Who you once were
by Females-are-bronys-too
Summary: "You don't know what it's like, to be seeing that this is how your life is, the torture, the hate, the pain you have to endure seeing this. I'm seeing my life through someone else's eyes and you don't know what's that like!" "Oh but ma cherie, trust me I do know." Bad at summaries; Rating might change
1. Chapter 1

**Just a short preview into the main plot of the story. Sorry it's so short :/**

 **Been playing a lot of Overwatch lately on PC and I just had to write out something.**

Lena Oxton, or more commonly known as Tracer, was sitting inside an empty dim lit cafe, casually stirring her cold tea. She looked out the window, seeing the large crowd in the center of King's Row, all of them with candles and rosaries in their hands. She looked down to her set of scones, which remained untouched. Lena kept stirring her tea, hoping to lose herself in the forever spinning whirlpool that was created in her cup. She did not want to be here, nor did she want to be watching the large crowd mourn their loss. Both human and omnics alike were standing, some in prayer for their fallen comrade. Lena suddenly stopped stirring and slammed her spoon down on the countertop, looking away from the window. A gloved hand carefully picked up the tea and scones, placing the two on a tray as Lena looked up to them.

"I was gonna drink it you know.."

She muttered, but the older figure just sighed. The waitress placed the tray aside and reached under the countertop, pulling out a bottle of fine aged Bourbon whiskey and two shot glasses.

"Maybe something a little stronger than tea will calm your nerves _Oxford_."

The older woman coolly replied, already pouring two shots and handing a cup to Lena.

"I told you it's Oxton!" Lena replied as she drank the dark liquid, then slamming the glass down. The older woman sighed.

"If you break another cup it's gonna come out of your pay." Lena just slouched forward and reached for the bottle instead. The waitress kept the bottle out of reach, which made Lena groan.

"Come on boss. Just one more." Lena whined, practically pleading. Her usually bubbly happy-go-lucky self was gone, and was replaced with a whiney alcoholic.

"Drinking is not the answer. Just look at what it did to my people." The older woman shot back, but not before taking a drink of the Bourbon herself. She scoffed.

"Lena, you're young. Don't go ruining your body drinking. You should be lucky I closed up shop early today, especially for tonight." Lena just sighed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"You don't know anything. You're not from here." Lena spat out, earning a stern look from the other woman.

"I may not be of English blood, but I certainly have lived longer than you. " She told Lena in a cold and harsh voice, pouring another cup and this time handing it to Lena. Lena took the drink and slammed it down, not caring if she was getting drunk. Right now, she just wanted to forget everything. The older woman looked out the window, watching the crowd with a longing gaze.

"It must be nice to be loved by others, to have people care for you like this."

She softly spoke, but that only made Lena want to drink even more. Today wasn't a good day. They both knew what day it was today, everyone grieved and mourned their loss. The older woman sighed.

"It's been what? Two years since then?" She asked, which only got a curt nod from Lena.

"If only they could just forget about it." She muttered, which gained her a slap to the back of the head.

"Kids these days have no respect."

Lena sneered. "Like you know how it is!" Lena started sobbing.

"You don't know what it's like, having to relive this nightmare, to never wake up, to never be able to return home. You don't know any of it!" Lena cried out, sobbing as the slightly darker skinned woman rubbed the back of her neck.

"That still doesn't give you an excuse to drink, to cast all of your anger on me. I saved you!"

She slammed her fist down on the wood countertop. Lena only cried more.

"You shouldn't have. You should have left me! Maybe then this wouldn't be a nightmare!" Lena cried out, wiping away the tears in her eyes before grabbing a jacket and quickly putting it on. She donned a baseball cap and headed for the door.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Lena didn't even turn to face her.

"Far away from you. And to get a drink."

She muttered before leaving and walking away from the deserted cafe. The older woman sighed, leaning on the countertop.

"Oh Lena, there's nothing you can do to make it better. You just got to accept it." She spoke softly to herself, then taking another drink of Bourbon and cleaning up the mess.

Lena was in no mood to talk. She was halfway drunk, making her way downtown to her other casual drinking spot, the Broken Tavern. She hated the looks she got from people, how they looked at her with disgust, pity, and remorse. She hated it. She kept her head low, avoiding the main road and going around the large crowd. She didn't dare to look to the sides, to see everyone praying, sharing a saddened look, mourning a loss that occurred two years ago. She wanted no part in it. She paved her way past the crowd and finally found herself at the doorsteps of her destination. She walked in and sat away from the windows, already ordering a drink. All she wanted to do was to get drunk, and fast. The only way she could cope with something was to drink, drink, and drink. That's all she could do. That was all she believed she can do. She dug herself a hole with no way out. The bar had only a few customers, of course those all getting drunk to mourn their loss. She wasn't the only one with the idea to get drunk, and at least she wasn't alone. Time seemed to go by slow, with every drink she took, it seemed only as if time wanted her to relive this moment over and over again, never letting her be free of it. Lena went to the woman's restroom, puking up all of the alcohol she drank. She slumped down on her knees, fighting back the urge to cry her heart out.

"Damn.. looks like that native was right.."

She choked on a few sobs, tears were already streaming down her face, splattering all over the two toned tile floor. Lena stayed in the stall for another five minutes, trying not to cry and create attention to her. Finally, she stood up, flushed what she puked up and went to the sink to wash it all off. She didn't dare to look at the woman in the mirror. Her face was unrecognizable, 'a tragedy' was written all over her face. She could feel the tears fighting back, her hands gripped the porcelain sink, she bit down on her lower lip as an attempt to stop the tears. The door opened, and the waitress from before stood at the door frame, slowly closing her door behind her.

"Come on Lena, let's go home. I think you had enough to drink for today."

She said to Lena in a calm voice, which made the brunette start crying and practically running to the set of open arms. The two left the bar, and the darkened sky began to cry, clearing part of the crowd. Some still stayed there, not caring if they got sick mourning their loss. Lena and the older woman walked along the sidewalk, with an umbrella shading them from the rain. Lena was in no mood to talk, her lifeless eyes were glued to the pavement they walked on. The older woman snuck a look at the pictures of deceased one. There, in the heart of the remaining crowd stood a large picture of a familiar brunette, wearing her infamous brown flight jacket and her signature orange goggles. It wasn't Tekhartha Mondatta they were mourning, but the infamous Tracer, A.K.A Lena Oxton. Her mouth ran dry, knowing how the public were oh so wrong but there was no way Lena could get out of this. It wasn't only the public that thought she was dead, but also her teammates, who were the ones to announce her death.

"It's been two years since then.."

She muttered to herself as she led Lena back to the cafe, letting the brunette walk upstairs where she now lived. The older woman stayed standing at the window, her arms crossed while watching the crowd slowly disappear. She poured herself another drink, slowly sipping the smooth alcohol, gazing into the distance.

"An unfortunate end to her career.."

She softly spoke to no one, but then quickly finished her drink before going upstairs to check on Lena. She slowly opened the door, seeing her Brit crying softly, huddled up in a ball under the sheets. Today was not a day neither of them wanted to remember, and with the public broadcasting this event everywhere, it would be impossible to forget, especially the Brits. It was already bad enough with the rage between the Omnics and the humans in England, especially in King's Row. And now the 'death' of Lena Oxton, who was pretty much the mascot for Overwatch. She stayed with Lena that night, comforting her and holding her as she cried her eyes out. Looks like she won't be opening tomorrow morning.

 **Tell me what you guys think! I'll hopefully have another chapter up later this week maybe :/**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I was kinda surprised some people actually liked this. It was just a random thought I had and I had to type it out. Sorry, it's not long but it's a little longer than last time. Originally this chapter was supposed to be a look into the past but I wanted to leave you guys hanging a little. There's a little insight to what happened but you won't be getting the full story for a while sorry.**

It wasn't that Lena was upset with her 'new' life, we actually yeah maybe she was more than a little 'unhappy' with her new life. Every night she woke up in cold sweat, her dreams haunted by her forever occurring nightmare. Every night she woke up screaming, and every night the older woman would come in, hold her and nurse her back to sleep, every night. Lena was thankful, maybe even grateful for the help she received from the older woman. Lena never really got to know her very well, even though Lena has been staying at her home for two years and counting, all she learned was her name was Dakota, and she was from overseas and a woman with many years on her. Lena didn't understand what Dakota meant when she told her she was a 'Native American', but when she rephrased it to ' _Indian_ ' Lena then understood what Dakota meant. Lena was interested, mainly because she only read of _'Indians'_ in history books and they often were described as 'savage people' with no sense of respect, but in reality Dakota was the kindest and most respected person Lena knew. Lena remembered back when it was a few months after Lena was rescued, and she was observing Dakota working in the cafe when she witnessed another form of racism. Lena knew there was a bad issue with racism towards the Omnics, but she never knew there was a stronger hate towards the ' _Indians_ '. But Dakota took care of the incident, in a calm and orderly way. There was no violence involved, none. Only a few, okay maybe not 'a few' cuss words and profanity coming from the assaulter. But Dakota held onto her authority and handed the situation with ease, both calming down her customers and escorting the man out, even if he was up in her face and calling her vile things. _"What an arse"_ Lena had thought watching from afar, hiding in the corner. But Dakota didn't let that man break her spirit, and could have easily have fought that man and win but she chose a peaceful way to deal with him. It reminded her of someone, with the way she handled it, peacefully and not with any intention to harm anyone. Lena had smiled that day, the first time in forever it seemed to her. Which says a lot coming from her, knowing all of her comrades from Overwatch. Overwatch.. Lena missed the old days when she didn't have to hide her identity on a daily basis, where she was free to run around without looking like a tragedy. She hated her face, every morning she woke up to looking at the unrecognizable woman staring back at her. The pity, the horror, the pain was forever etched on her, and there was no way to reverse it. Lena stared back into those empty and hollow hazel eyes, captive by the empty gaze. Lena no longer looked the same, she couldn't recognize herself, the woman in the mirror. Half of her was recognizable, but the other half screamed tragedy. None of it was her fault, but then again being an active agent of Overwatch couldn't also secure a safe life either. _"It was bound to happen"_ Someone had once said, but she had lived! Lena Oxton was alive, maybe not well, but she was alive! She wasn't dead! But the whole world thought she was! It wasn't fair! Lena looked back into the tear stained eyes of that woman, but found nothing. She searched for anything that resembled the fallen Overwatch agent, but she couldn't find anything. Nothing was left.

"I guess they were bloody right, Lena Oxton is dead.."

She muttered to no one. She was just another causality in the war for peace.

"Oxford! Come on, get your butt out of the bathroom!"

"I told you its Oxton!"

Lena retorted, tearing her sight from the mirror and opening the cabinet and looking for her cream. She found her daily cream, Dakota said it was herbal cream made from the medicine man in her tribe, but Lena couldn't understand much.

"If only Angela was here.."

She grumbled to herself as she opened the lid and used her right hand to scoop out some of the green cream and applied it to her scarring wounds. It worked well, but not as well as the staff of the medical doctor. Lena applied the cream on every burn, every part of her skin that was tainted by the fire, applying it with care.

"It's been two years and I still look the same."

She said aloud, only to hear a small chuckle from Dakota.

"Nonsense, you look a whole lot better than before."

The Native woman replied before walking up to Lena and carefully touching her face and checking her for any infections or any sudden wounds opening up.

"It's healing pretty good, but about the scarring, I'd have to ask Lenord about that. He might have something for that."

Lena swatted her hands away.

"Yeah yeah whatever. Just let me finish up."

Dakota shrugged.

"Alright, but let me check your arm later today okay? Don't want it falling off suddenly and scaring away all the customers."

Lena scoffed.

"I'm surprised you haven't scared anyone yet with that bloody mug you have on."

Lena smirked, but then realized what she just said. Dakota didn't reply, she just waved and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Lena looked back to the mirror, taking in every detail of her half burned face. She turned her face to the right, showing the whole left side of her face.

" _You were lucky"_ Dakota had told her, but looking like this crap certainly didn't show luck. Surviving with a fourth-degree burn was just the extent of her luck. But then again if it wasn't for Dakota then Lena would have died, she was trapped and injured to the point where she couldn't blink to safety. She couldn't feel the pain of the fire, the heated licks that burned into her skin. Then the ceiling caved in and it all went black. She was there, but why? A cafe owner, an old woman into her late 50's running around a combat zone, _but she saved her_. That's all Lena knew. But looking at the half leathery mug of a face, she couldn't tell if it was worth it. Lena just sighed as she put the cream back and left. No one could recognize her with that hideous wound, which was kinda of a blessing in disguise.

* * *

 **Location: Overwatch base in the North Americas**

"It's been two years since then.." She muttered to herself, gazing out across the courtyard, watching the new recruits make their way to the field for training. Things were quiet without their comrade, but sadly that's how war always was. You lose loved ones in exchange for peace, except peace was never guaranteed. Of course the new recruits hardly knew why the base seemed so empty, why most of the older agents stayed quiet for today. Even the flag was half raised in remembrance of all the fallen agents in the past, but it also signified the loss of Tracer. The bubbly Brit always knew how to make everyone smile and laugh without even trying. But there was no more of her, the sudden attack in the home base caught everyone off guard, especially Tracer. She wasn't even supposed to have been there, it was her day off but she decided to spend it hanging out with her friends and look what it got her. _Death_. She shivered slightly from the thought of death, how Lena must have spent her last moments caught in gunfire and the explosions. By the time they had got the situation under control, she was no where to be found, and the base was burnt to the ground. Winston could only find her chronal accelerator, which was heavily damaged, melting into a heap of metal. And of course _the blood._ The blood was stained into the metal, and there was so much of it. Winston found a heap of stained blood in the area, all dried and etched into the pavement. She had to hold back tears, her hand was covering her mouth, and instantly she had ran off and vomited. She may be a doctor but the aftermaths of war was never pretty. And now two whole years had passed from that day, and the German Doctor still had nightmares of the attack. She sighed, rubbing her delicate fingertips against her forehead, trying to smooth out her reoccurring thoughts.

"Doctor Angela, you are needed out on the training grounds."

A familiar Egyptian voice broke the silence, making the Swiss doctor turn and see Pharah standing at the entrance, a hardened look on her face. Angela smiled gently, walking towards the Egyptian woman.

"Ah, would you be so kind to escort me?"

Angela asked, and the Egyptian woman nodded, extending an arm out to her.

"Please, follow me doctor."

Pharah said calmly, waiting for the smaller woman to accept her gesture. Angela leaned against Pharah, sighing. Pharah only shared a small look of pity to the doctor, knowing what today is. Pharah was well aware of her crush on the German doctor, but she was also aware of the issues of dating a doctor and especially when it's war, you'd never know what will come the next day. She kept her boundaries, formal and semi-friendly. Back when Lena was around, Pharah always knew the close relationship the two women had, it wasn't romantic but it almost seemed like they had a secret relationship hidden from the public and their friends. Of course that wasn't the case, Pharah had asked her bluntly one day and the British girl just broke out laughing. But they were 'two peas in a pod' as the saying went. Pharah cleared her throat.

"Doctor, we are here, do you need me to assist you any further?"

Pharah asked, waiting patiently as the German woman just smiled and shook her head.

"Nein, thank you for escorting me Fareeha"

Angela made her way to the training grounds, already taking notice of the situation at hand. Fareeha watched as the German woman handled it all with ease, calming the injured paitent down and helping them. Pharrah went back into the base, making her way back to her station. Overwatch still was outlawed, yet here they are, recruiting and training new agents to work. Of course they weren't doing any 'official' Overwatch business or missions or anything like that, but somehow Overwatch had enough funds to hire Helix Security as an extra percaution ever since that attack from Talon. Pharah still had some contributions towards Overwatch before the incident, ever since that German blonde had caught her eye. Pharah only dreamed of meeting the German doctor, and when she actually got to meet the kind woman, she had to keep pinching herself to make sure it wasn't a dream. She checked over her current mission, everything seemed in order, and soon there would be a rotation of stations. Her shifts usually lasted for a small number of weeks, mainly for the contract to safeguard the Temple of Anubis. |But recently she hasn't gotten any check-ups, no calls, no nothing from her group. She just thought they were well off with her absence for now. Pharah could only shake her head to what her mother would say, knowing she was still single without any intentions to start a family. Pharah was now thirty-four, and her mother would constantly ask her when she would be expecting a grandchild, but Pharah never got the courage to tell her mother she wasn't that interested in the opposite sex. But her mother was never really around enough for Pharah to tell her anything, she was here one day and gone the next, not returning for weeks and sometimes months. After all she was a bounty hunter and forever on the lookout for her next target. A knock on the wall interrupted Pharah's train of thought.

"Pharah, Jack called for you."

A random agent said, and Pharah nodded.

"Where is Jack?"

She asked and only received a jerk of the thumb towards the cafeteria. She sighed as she waved the young agent away and started on her way to the cafeteria. Pharah made her way into the bland looking room, finding the head of Overwatch sitting alone with a cup of coffee, reading the news. She rolled her eyes.

"You called for me Jack?"

Jack cleared his throat and set the newspaper down, gesturing for Pharah to sit.

"Yes, I have some issues that I need to discuss with you."

"Go on commander."

She replied, waiting for Jack to continue.

"There have been recent sightings of Talon in Dorado, especially this 'Sombra' along with sightings of your mother."

Pharah narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Jack sighed before opening his newspaper and flipping to a certain page.

"Because we lost contact with your mother the moment this hit the news."

Jack placed down the newspaper, and Pharah read the text in large bold lettering aloud.

"Omnic crisis on the rise?"

Pharah looked at Jack, but he only slid the newspaper back towards him.

"Thirty years of 'peace' and now this? It's already bad enough Russia is already dealing with their own second crisis but for the whole world to be back in war?"

Jack rubbed his forehead, reaching for his cup of coffee.

"The worst part is this is only the beginning. There's rumors Talon's been involved in starting the heated tension in Dorado, but not only just Dorado is being affected."

Jack flipped through the newspaper yet again.

"I've been made aware you haven't been in contact with your team lately. This might be the reason."

Jack slid the newspaper yet again, and this time the bold lettering shocked Pharah.

"Sudden attack on Temple of Anubis?"

Pharah grabbed the newspaper, reading about the casualties and the death of many members, including half of her squad. Peace was only a dream in war.

 **Thanks for reading! _Question: Are you aware of Sombra?_**

 **Feel free to review or pm me if you want to, I'll be playing Overwatch on the PC now.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey I'm back with another chapter. And I know I didn't mention anything to how Tracer is still alive without the bulky chronal accelerator on her and such. Truthfully I left it out on purpose but this chapter will tell you how she is still anchored.**

 **BTW: Just letting you guys know it's my birthday tomorrow c:**

 **So think of this chapter like a present from me to you.**

Working at the cafe was more of a chore to Lena, always cleaning up other people's mess or attending to their every need, sure she got paid for it, and she normally got tips. But it was more pity tips, with every customer would always avoid eye contact with her and leave a few pounds for her. She didn't want other people to feel sorry for her, the looks they gave her behind her back, the small conversations that were including her and her face. Sometimes she could feel everyone's eyes on her, hearing the same _"Oh that poor girl"_ or _"Mommy what happened to her?"_ and so on. Lena didn't want to be the source of attention at a small cafe, she just wanted to be forgotten. But it seems even here she would be the source of attention. The door opened, the little chime of the bell signified another customer, and Lena was the first to greet them.

"Welcome to the Grind house. Please take a seat and I will be with you shortly."

Lena said nicely to the couple, and right away she recognized them. The blonde hair, the black beanie, that smiley face button, it took all her will to stop her from breaking down in front of them. Dakota patted Lena on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I got them. Just deal with tables 4 and 7."

Lena nodded, and she watched from the corner of her eye. The omnic-human couple, she remembered them for sure. They looked happy, even with the assassination of Mondatta they still were together. Lena softly smiled, but then looked down. Her failure, she wasn't even there for a mission. She supported the equal rights for Omnics and humans, she believed there was a way for the two to co-exist, but she couldn't save him. She tried but failed in the end. Lena took the orders and went to the small kitchen, handing it to the chef in the back. He was a friendly guy, quiet but he loved what he did. He didn't look like he belonged in the kitchen, but his food was amazing. He smiled and took the handwritten paper from her, reading it to himself. His fallen green Mohawk was pulled back into a small ponytail, covered by a hairnet. He looked intimidating when Lena first met him, his black Gothic boots made him an inch or two taller than his normal height, but he smiled and waved. His first words to her were. _"Cooking is my passion,"_ he pointed to his nose _"but I have to thank this little thing here, without it I wouldn't be able to smell and taste."_ and then he smiled.

Lena snapped out of her little memory from the sound of yelling, and she ran out to check it out. She saw a few men crowding the omnic-human couple, spewing hate towards them, and Dakota was trying to calm them all down. But then suddenly Dakota was lying on the ground, the men were taking turns on spitting on her.

"It's your kind that caused all of this!"

"you're not welcomed here!"

"Go back to where you came from savage!"

Lena ran forward, pushing some of the men back.

"Leave her alone!"

She yelled, putting space between them. But their assault didn't end there.

"Oi take a look at this, what happen darling, fell and hit your face on the stove?"

Lena took a step back.

"N-No!"

"Who'd wanna fuck around with you? Come 'ere darling, I'll show you a lovely time."

Lena clenched her face in disgust, her hand clenching into a fist as she saw Dakota walk up to the men.

"You need to leave, now."

The men only laughed. Dakota took a quick look around her, seeing her customers were slightly agitated, and some were trying to look away from the situation. This was bad for business. Lena noticed how some of the men in the cafe were starting to stand up, an angry look on their faces. Clearly the smaller group of men didn't notice, they kept spewing racist comments to both Dakota and the omnic-human couple. Lena took a step back as one of Dakota's regular customer's walked forward, pressing his meaty finger into the smaller man's chest. The smaller man frowned.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing mate?"

The taller and more muscular man kept jabbing his finger at the smaller and pudgier man, edging him closer to the door.

"You have any problems with the native, you take it with me, 'mate'."

He threaten, then opening the door and shoving the man out of the shop, spitting right next to him. He turned and looked at the rest of the group, who were now the center of attention from the other customers. It didn't take long for the rest to leave the shop. The taller man went and asked the couple if they were okay and checked up on Dakota. She smiled and thanked him for his help, offering him a free meal or two. Lena was in awe, she understood how the public worked at times, but especially how this situation was handled, it surprised her. Just then she heard the woman call out to her.

"Um excuse me miss?"

Lena smiled and walked to their table.

"Sorry about that, how can I help you?"

The blonde woman just smiled.

"Actually I wanted to say that your boss is a kind and gentle woman. Normally we don't get any kindness for our relationship, but the first thing she told us was that we are a brave and courageous couple, and that we shouldn't let what others say get to us."

Lena smiled.

"She is a kind woman ain't she? She even helped me out."

The blonde woman smiled and nodded, and her omnic partner then spoke.

"Thank you."

He spoke, but Lena only shook her head.

"Im not the one you should be thanking."

Lena replied and called over Dakota, who was wiping her face with a napkin.

"Yes?"

She asked as she wiped away the last of the spit, smiling as she waved to the couple. The Omnic was the first to speak.

"Thank you, for standing up for us. It isn't everyday where we find someone as kind as you."

Dakota only smiled and shook her head.

"It's okay, you don't have to thank me. After all, if I learned anything from my people it is that everyone is equal, no matter race, gender, or Omnic."

Dakota replied, and she was shaking his hand as the girlfriend stood up and hugged her. Lena turned around and saw the man who helped her out was talking to other people, calming them down and making the situation better. Lena looked down. She didn't do much, not as much as Dakota did or the man. She didn't try her best. She just watched and tried to do something but the situation got a little worse. Some _hero_ she was. Lena walked back to the kitchen, where her co-worker was.

"So what happen out there?"

He asked, currently flipping a pancake and catching it in his frying pan.

"Just a couple of arses thinking that they were all high and mighty and trying to start a scene."

He just 'tsk'ed and placed the pancake on a plate, finishing a stack.

"Don't let people get to you. This world's full of 'em."

He replied as he handed her the plate, finishing a current order.

"I know Eden. What table does this go to again?"

Lena's been told so many times not to let these people get to her, and she was kinda sick of it.

"Table 7."

He replied as he started whisking eggs in a bowl. It was too early for this. Lena walked out of the kitchen and walked to table 7, which was of course the man who helped out Dakota. He was a little younger than Dakota, he had slightly graying short hair but he still held onto his muscular figure. Reminded her of a certain overwatch agent. He smiled, his gray eyes were already glued to the stack of pancakes. Lena smiled.

"Thank you for helping out my boss."

She thanked him, but he only chuckled and waved.

"Nonsense! It's the least I can do."

She placed the stack down before him, and she only nodded and left him to his breakfast. It was times like these where she wished she could just leave and drink. She sighed. Maybe she's been drinking too much.

* * *

After that incident, time flew on by, and next thing Lena knew it was already time to close up. She smiled as she locked the door after the last customers left. She flipped the open sign to closed and stretched.

"Oh yeah closing time!"

Dakota only sighed.

"I swear it's like you look forward to an empty shop."

Dakota said, wiping down the counter. Lena only nodded.

"Oh but before you leave to who knows where, I need to do a mandatory check up."

Dakota said as Lena groaned. No matter what she was always getting a weekly check up, it just felt like work.

"Fine."

Lena grumbled as she walked up the stairs. Lena hated these check ups, sure it was needed but it was always a hassle. Lena went to Dakota's "man cave" as Lena liked to call it. Dakota said it was just her work room but it was more than just 'work'. She opened the door and as usual, she found scattered parts and metal all over the table, along with lots of papers tacked on the wall. There was always a red string on those tacks, and lots of scratched writing. Dakota was looking for something, but Lena could never find out. She asked Dakota about it and all she got was 'I'm looking for myself' from the Native woman. She could never understand her. But she liked coming in here at times and looking at the artifacts Dakota had from her tribe. She had a shelf full of tribal items, and she said all of them were handmade. Traditional handwoven baskets, pots that were handcrafted and painted. It was interesting to her. The door to Dakota's man cave opened, and Dakota came walking in.

"Go on sit."

Dakota ushered, making Lena tear her eyes away from the priceless artifacts. Lena walked to the table with the random metal parts, and Dakota quickly pushed them onto the rubber bin beside the table. Lena hopped up and sat on the wooden table, waiting. Dakota grabbed her toolkit, opening it up and grabbing a pair of goves.

"Come Oxford, take off your top and lie down. You know the drill."

Dakota said, waiting as Lena just groaned and began to unbutton her vest and button-up shirt, exposing her chest. She kept her bra on, and Dakota checked her wounds at first, placing light touches on the burned skin. Lena was lucky alright, but now she looked like she was half cooked, one side burned and the other was perfectly fine. But her face and left arm took heavy damage to the fire. How she survived it was a mystery, but she did somehow. She no longer relied on that heavy and bulky chronal accelerator to keep her anchored in time, but the moifications Dakota made explained everything.

"Hmm.. looks like your core needs a fix up."

Dakota said, examining her work. There was only one option that was left to save Lena back then, there was no way Dakota was capable of repairing the damage on that bulky contraption. Not with that little time and the amount of blood Lena was losing, there was only a limited time before she would lose her. So without wasting any time Dakota took the bulky contraption apart, mainly taking the core of it. She had no time back then and took a chance of implanting the core into her chest. Luckily, that slim chance of survival worked, and here Lena was, alive and still kicking.

"Dakota, how did you know that crazy idea of your would even work?"

Lena asked her, but Dakota only shrugged.

"I didn't kiddo. I risked it. But it's a good thing I did. Or well I hope it is."

She mumbled the last part, but Lena heard it all. Lena knew there was something strange with this woman, she was there when the attack from Talon occurred, but she knew more than 'just a little reading in technology' as Dakota liked to say. There is no way someone could read a book on how to transfer technology into a human body.

"Looks like the scarring is starting the fade."

Dakota said, cafeully touching the rough skin. Lena hated how her hands were always cold, she could feel the coldness through the gloves she was wearing, which never made any sense. Dakota tapped the remaining core of Lena's chronal accelerator, then plugged a few wires into it and opened her laptop beside the table. Dakota read over the statistics, analyzing every word.

"Good news or bad news first?"

Dakota asked Lena, who replied bad news.

"Bad news is your core is finally giving out. I got to figure out how your friend Winston made it. But the good news is you're up for an upgrade."

Dakota joked, but Lena didn't find it amusing.

"So what does that mean?"

Dakota scratched her head, messing up her short hair.

"It means the core has major issues that I can't fix. I guess after the incident with the fire it worked with the makeshift repairs I did, but now I guess it isn't enough. It'll last for.."

Dakota trailed off, taking another long look at the screen.

"..For probably another week or two. At the most. Im surprised it held on for this long. Technology is amazing somethimes you know? But lets take a look at your arm now."

Dakota unplugged the wires, and Lena nodded. She took off her uniform and sat up, her left arm was now exposed, or well what was now her left arm. The fire burned through her skin, penetrating all the way to her bone. Sadly there was no way Dakota could save her arm, not with skin that could never heal and bone tissue that was scarred beyond repair.

"Say, how come you just couldn't take me to Angela?"

Lena thought aloud, asking Dakota who shrugged.

"There was no time. And it was chaos, I just got mixed up in it and I did what I could without trying to get myself killed."

She responded, checking out the prosthetic metal arm. Dakota had handcrafted it herself, using some old parts she had left. Clearly Dakota knew more than just reading a page or two from a book, but Lena didn't really mind the mystery that was surrounding the Native woman. She was learning things about her almost everyday.

"How do you even know how to do all this stuff anyways?"

Lena asked, hoping to hear more than 'I just read a book' answer she usually got. Dakota just smiled and sighed.

"Can't fool you with that book story huh?"

She asked as she took Lena's hand off, making sure the joints worked properly.

"Back when I was younger I worked in technology, not really anything like the Omnica Corporation with creating Omnics or anything like that, but something more along creating prostetics for those in need."

Dakota replied as she hooked up Lena's hand, letting the young girl move and flex her metal fingers. It wasn't a surprise Lena was half baked with a metal arm. Dakota sighed.

"You should start applying more of that cream around your neck and around your adbomen."

Dakota said while she poked at the exposed skin.

"So you were like a mechanic?"

Lena completely ignored Dakota's advice, only interested in learning more about the old woman. Dakota sighed.

"Kinda of. Anyways your check ups over now. You can go and run off and do whatever it is you do. I'll look into spare parts and see what I can find to reapair your core."

Dakota told Lena as she started packing her tools. Lena hopped off the table, picking up her uniform and walked out of the 'man cave'. She sighed. How was she going to even repair the core? It's not like Winston had copies somewhere... Lena smirked. Winston did have copies! But would he even have them after so long? Lena pondered for a second, thinking of how she would be able to find any of the spares Winston had created. Sure she once asked him how the bloody thing worked and how he made it, but he used to many words Lena didn't even know existed. She went to her room, changing out of her work uniform and putting on a loose fitting pair of pants, and she threw on a hoodie that was one size too big for the small girl. Looks like she gets to lurk around for old time's sake.

* * *

Talon became an even more feared accosication, especially after the attack on Overwatch's base overseas, and more importantly with the death of Lena Oxton. At first it was only Gerard Lacroix's murder that took the world by surprise, but now after their success on killing the infamous Tracer, Talon soon became unstoppable. They were soon feared by all organizations around, and with Overwatch becoming illegal, it was a time for Talon to strike where it would hurt the most. But instead here Widow was, watching the crowd mourn the loss of Tracer, keeping an eye out for any sign of her prey. Truthfully she felt this whole mission was just to get her out of the base, but she couldn't say anything but take the job. She was on the lookout for this 'hacker' that Talon saw as a threat. His picture clearly showed the man didn't get enough time outside, but sometimes she just had to get the worst jobs. _The thrill of the kill_ as she always said to herself, but there was no anticipation for this kill. She stole a look to the large picture of Tracer, and her eyes narrowed down. Oh how she hated whoever got the joy to kill her. One thing Widowmaker looked forward to was to killing Tracer, her one and only. Everytime she missed she would always hear that mocking Brit make fun of her, imitating her " _one shot, one kill"_. But now, she was dead. Whoever got to see the final moments of the Brit clearly were lucky, but who did? Widow wasn't one to question but once the little attack was over, it didn't take long for the word to get out that Tracer was killed. But who killed her? Widow snapped out of her thoughts as she recognized a familiar woman walk out of a cafe, her head low.

"Oh why bojour, _docteur_."

She said playfully, looking through her scope.

"Now, where are you going?"

She amused herself, keeping her finger on the trigger as she waited to see where the 'doctor' would go. But just then something else caught her eye, causing her to lose track of the 'doctor'. She 'tsk'ed before looking at what caught her eye. Her target was walking right out in the open, clearly entranced by the tablet he was holding. Now, is it better to make a scene and have the possiblity of getting caught or waiting for the right moment and kill him without making a scene? Of course Widow knew the answer to that, it was reckless and foolish for her to even think of causing a scene. The pale man didn't have a sense of where he was going, just walking and bumping into many people. He didn't join the crowd, which was lucky for Widow. That meant she didn't have to wait any longer. He stepped into an alley, which was out of Widow's sight. She quickly repositioned herself to get a clear view. It didn't take long for her to find him, waiting by a door out in the alley, his hand reaching for the door. All she has to do is pull the trigger and she's done. Widow placed her finger on the trigger, and pulled. Before the man could even knock he was lying on the floor, lifeless. Did she feel the thrill of the kill? No. Did she care she just killed some man who had no life? No. She was made to be emotionless, to be only into the kill, but now it seems as if she just lost her purpose in life. Her kills no longer felt the same, they no longer had the same hold over her as it did once before. She took another look at the picture of Tracer.

"Vous etes la cause de cette"

She muttered before she spoke into her headset.

"Widowmaker requesting pickup."

She didn't look back to the crowd, as much as she wanted to throw a vemon mine into the crowd and watch them run in panic, she didn't. All she had to do now was wait out her next call.

* * *

 **Translation: You're the cause**

 **I hope you liked this chap! I'll try to keep this at a weekly schedule and post next week same day. And FYI, I'm using Google Translate and I know that's the worst to use for translating languages but that's all I have.. See you soon?**


	4. Chapter 4

**finally got around to uploading this chapter, kinda took a while.. was playing Overwatch on the xbox and I lost track of time.. but anyways.**

Widow spent her few days patrolling the outskirts of King's row. Her supervision wasn't needed but there was this urge for her to leave the bland and boring base she was currently stationed at. She was given a mission but instead she spent most of her time observing the town. She was only stationed here for a small while, but it felt like forever. Just sitting around and doing nothing was a bore, she didn't find anything interesting. The training room was full of novice agents, mainly those that could hardly keep their eyes from wondering across her toned and exposed skin at times. Men. What else could you expect from them? Always stuck in a lewd world, only seeking for pleasure. Widow had no desires but the kill, but even know the thrill was gone. Only one person made her want it, it was a desire that had no ends, it was something she thrived for. But now, that desire ended. Every single time she went through her reconditioning phase, that desire was no longer lighted. Of course she didn't tell the higher ups, she still wanted to be useful to the company. Tonight was no difference, she had an empty feeling and she needed to take a small walk outside. She watched the day turn into the night, the streetlamps light up the darkness of the town. But still nothing could make her feel that burning desire she had long ago. She held a bored gaze, watching a peaceful encounter until something caught her eye.

It was fast, but not fast enough to go unnoticed by her trained senses. Widow instinctively peered through her scope, trying to find the sudden intruder. A small glimpse of the skilled runner made Widow start to pursue them. The way the intruder jumped, leaped, ran, and disappeared without notice made Widow smirk softly. She felt a small tingle of the thrill she lost as she went in pursuit of the intruder. She threw a venom mine ahead, and used her quick sniping skills to quickly set the mine off, making the intruder gasp and tumble down.

"Too easy"

She almost purred, a hint of emotion was found lurking in her words as she stepped to the person on the ground. As much as she didn't want the chase to end, what was that American saying, " _All good things must come to an end?"_ or something like that. She scoffed and placed the barrel of her gun down at the person's head, her finger eager to pull the trigger. The hooded person quickly kicked the barrel away as Widow pulled the trigger, causing her bullet to stray away from her target. She was caught off guard, and suddenly found herself on the ground, her hand was placed over her nose. It wasn't everyday where she would let herself be caught off guard. She saw the hooded figure stand before her, she the night was in their favor, shading their face from her. Oh how she hated this. Widow gritted her teeth in annoyance, her hand slowly reached for the knife on her thigh, watching the hooded person's movements carefully. But then before Widow could unsheathe her knife a sudden crash startled the two. Before Widow could attack the hooded person quickly ran to the source, observing the situation that was happening. She was given a perfect opportunity to take out this strange person, and shes not letting this chance slip through her fingers. Widow quietly picked up her Widow's kiss, already aiming for her prey. She wanted the perfect kill, the height of the anticipation to eat away at her as she killed, but to kill this person in such a shameful way only angered her even more. She lowered her rifle, the heat of the battle faded. It wasn't perfect, none of it was. Even she had standards for her prey. Widow scoffed before launching her grappling hook and went off into another section of the town. She looked behind her, and no one was following after her. Her small thrill ended as fast as it started, and she hated it. She had an incoming message blink on her head-com, and she only 'tsk'ed as she answered it.

"Widowmaker here."

Widow narrowed her eyes. Why was it suddenly she became a messenger? Her current mission was to deliver a message and that was it. So how the hell did she get caught up in this? She didn't even know places like this existed in King's row! She was reaching her limit.

" _Docteur-_ "

"Shush _Amiele_ , let me just enjoy this moment."

Widow gritted her teeth. She hated being called that. She stared at the woman sitting beside her, her face hidden by a raven's mask. Currently there was one of them, _strippers_ sitting on her lap, letting her touch and caress certain parts for a price.

"Some special class you are"

Widow muttered, taking a sip of the wine. The raven masked woman only chuckled as she slid a 50 pound sterling note in the woman's undergarments. Then she waved her off as the raven woman turned to face Widow.

"Don't forget I'm special class for a reason, unlike miss messenger here."

She taunted as she took a drink of scotch, savoring the taste. Widow glared and took another sip of her wine, looking away from the raven mask.

"Come on, loosen up a little bit. I'll even buy you a little time with a lovely lady or man of your choice."

She offered to the French woman who only glared and drank more of the wine.

"Non"

The raven mask only sighed and shook her head, running a hand through her short slicked back hair. She only shrugged as she called over another stripper, letting the woman sit on her lap, soft touches on the exposed skin. Clearly she was a regular customer, most of the staff knew her by the mask, but all of the female and male workers knew her and they sometimes competed for her attention. Widow scoffed.

"You're as bad as the recruits."

She said as she finished her wine, seeing the raven masked woman smile and only sigh.

"Alright, alright let's talk."

She gave in, sliding two 50 pound notes into the skimpy lingerie and waved off the woman on her lap. She turned to face Widow again.

"So what is it you're wanting me to do this time?"

She asked in an irritated tone, picking up her scotch and letting the liquid swish around the glass before she took a drink. Widow only growled in annoyance.

"The same thing we've been asking for years, _docteur._ "

The woman sighed.

"And I keep telling you _Ameile,_ I am not a doctor."

Widow narrowed her eyes at this woman, oh how she hated her. She never had a reason to, but there was something she didn't like about this, _specical class_ but she had to follow orders. After all, that's all widow was left with. Taking orders or being killed. Clearly she liked living.

"Your degree clearly disagrees with you, _docteur_ "

Widow shot back, making the raven masked woman groan.

"Fine, fine. I expect payment is the same?"

"Oui."

Widow just wanted to leave. She hated being here, she hated being sent on missions as a messenger, especially when it's mainly for _her_. She pulled out a card from her inner breast pocket, which made the raven masked woman smirk a little. Widow handed her the card, which she took happily.

"Hope you didn't warm it up for me."

She joked but Widow didn't find it amusing. She took the card and slid it into her pocket.

"Ah, I almost forgot. I need another shipment delivered."

Widow could feel her eyebrow twitch.

"When?"

She hated this woman.

"Before Monday."

She gritted her teeth and forced herself to comply.

"I'll let them know."

If this woman wasn't a higher rank than her, she would have already killed her by now.

"Are we done now?"

Widow asked as the raven masked woman nodded and waved her away, calling over a male stripper, forgetting about Widow. She left the perverted _docteur_ in that disgusting place, walking out to the fresh and cool air of the night. She needed another day off, sometimes it was just too much for her.

"Who knew the famous Widowmaker would be seen coming out a place like this?"

Widow turned and saw the hooded figure leaning against a lamp-post, a digital camera in their hands. She narrowed her eyes, she couldn't recognize that voice.

"Who are you?"

The hooded person only laughed, trying hard to keep out of the light.

"I said, who are you?"

She repeated, this time reaching for her Widow's kiss. The hooded person took a step back, still laughing.

"Whoa come on, tell me, did you order some kind of 'special' service? Or do you work here part time?"

They mocked, she could feel the cockiness oozing from them, which reminded her of a certain someone. With quick reflexes Widow sent a few bullets straight to the hooded person's camera, who quickly dodged the oncoming bullets. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. The hooded person giggled, which was something Widow caught right away, but she didn't get to hear much of it before they quickly placed a hand over their mouth, turning away. Widow couldn't leave without knowing who this hooded person was, especially not after hearing that laugh. She needed answers, and she was going to find out no matter what. She quickly ran up to the hooded person, quickly reaching for their right arm and pulling it behind their back before slamming them onto the pavement.

"Ow! Wow, flexible much?"

They strained to say, crying out in pain from the strain their arm took. Widow leaned forward, almost hissing into their ear.

"Who are you?"

She asked, applying more pressure to the arm, causing the smaller person to squirm under her. They didn't say anything, but stayed quiet, only groaning in pain from the pressure. She was growing impatient, and applied more pressure, causing them to grit their teeth. She was getting impatient, and grabbed the hood and pulled it back. All she could see was the backside of the hooded person's head, partially shaven on the left side. But then something else caught her eye, the spider bites on their left ear. At a first glance, she couldn't tell it was a ear, the way it was so red and had a leathery look. Who ever this person was, they certainly had survived something. She pressed their face harder into the sidewalk, their left side was facing her. She surveyed the burnt and leathery face, noticing a thin line that was a little darker than the rest of the face. Widow slowly let one finger trace along it, watching the person squirm from her could touch.

"Bloody hell you're cold!"

They exclaimed, and she only softly smirked.

"Now, who are you?"

She practically purred, this anticipation was biting at her. This familiar accent, the cocky tone, that giggle, it was eating away at her. Perhaps she was just waiting for something like this. They just forced a chuckle and squirmed a little more, making Widow apply even more pressure, making them cry out in pain.

"You know if you wanted to do this to someone I could have hired someone for you right?"

She sighed, ignoring the Raven masked woman as she stepped out of the door way and into the light. The hooded person watched the two exchange looks, eying the masked person. This masked person was wearing this raven mask, hiding their face, and they were wearing all black. Black slacks, black button up top that was slightly messed up, the first two were unbuttoned, a few red marks wer placed on the exposed skin. She waited for the right moment to break free, but she had to wait for the perfect time. The raven woman chuckled, which made Widow frown.

"Come on, let the boy go."

The hooded person scoffed, slightly squirming from the grip Widow had on them. She didn't budge, she kept her hold on them, staring right into those eye sockets. She chuckled again, this time stepping a little closer.

"I know you haven't been on the best terms with me, but come on let the little one go."

Widow narrowed her eyes, only scoffing and pressing their face even more, this time stepping on their back.

"Some 'special class' you are"

She spat as she let go of them violently, kicking them hard on the side. She glared at the mask, flipping them off before she used her grappling hook and went off somewhere else. Looks like she'll find out who this person is some other time, which she didn't have the patience for.

"Well that wasn't very nice."

The masked woman said to no one in particular, only seeing the hooded person squirm around in pain. She smirked as she walked up to the person on the floor, crouching down and gently poking their side.

"Say kid, how would you like to make a trade?"

* * *

It was way past curfew when Lena returned from her little night out, feeling all beaten and lost. She was just looking for her old apartment in the area, to see if there was anything there she could use for her chronal accelerator. Her little night out on the town was quickly interrupted when she found Widowmaker sitting on the roof of a nearby building, just casually sitting there. The curiosity got to her, which got her stuck in this whole mess. But what really got to her was the fact Widow was staring right into this blood mug of a face, and she could see those golden eyes looking for some sort of resemblance. But there was none. Widowmaker, who Lena was constantly fighting in missions no longer recognized her. This scarred up face proved it. She felt lost, her sworn enemy didn't even know who she , Lena was sliding through her window, trying not to make loud noises to wake Dakota. Lena landed into her room with a thump, making her wince out in pain. She looked to the door, hearing no footsteps or anything signifying that Dakota was woken up. She sighed. She struggled to stand, leaning heavily on the small table beside her bed. Bed. All she wanted to do now was to sleep and forget this night even existed. First getting in a small fight with Widowmaker, then getting into another fight with her, Widow not recognizing her, and then meeting some pervert who wanted to buy the camera she had. Like hell Lena was gonna let them buy it, she wanted to use that as some sort of blackmail for whenever she needed it. She took off her large hoodie, then the tank top she was wearing underneath it. She winced out as she saw the numerous bruises that were starting to form. Her hands were carefully touching the bruised flesh. Lena wanted to groan but just held it in. As much as she wanted to take a nice relaxing bath to calm her nerves, she couldn't. The perks of living with Dakota, the woman didn't believe in having a relaxing bath, but instead bearing the heat of a sauna, which Lena couldn't find enjoyable. There was no 'bath' really, only a shower and the sauna foundation in the backyard. Lena sat down on the bed, she was tired, all she wanted to do now was to sleep. She laid down, letting her relax against the soft and comfy mattress, letting out a small sigh. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

When Lena woke up, the whole place was quiet, she couldn't hear the sounds of tableware clattering, the soft sounds of people talking and how it normally was. Instead it was quiet, only the sound of her breathing was all Lena heard. She got up, wincing as her muscles were sore and tense from yesterday night. Lena quickly slid on a t-shirt and stepped out of her room. She looked at the calendar Dakota put up in the hallway, it was Saturday and normally the shop would have been open by now. She knocked on Dakota's door, and it only creaked open. She peeked into the room, which was something Lena rarely did. One of Dakota's major rules was to never enter her room unless told to. But looking around Dakota wasn't around. She stepped inside, seeing the tribal blanket that was neatly folded on her bed. But what really caught her attention was pile of scattered papers on the desk, which Lena couldn't ignore. She walked over the desk, picking up a few pieces of paper. She groaned.

"What? Only bills?"

Clearly Dakota had a well planned out checkbook, along with her financial expenses. Lena looked through a few more papers, finding income receipts and a lot of things she couldn't understand. She found one of her old bank statements, and she gasped at the amount.

"Bloody hell she's rich!"

Numbers that were exceeding past the 7th digit, and it wasn't all zeros either. But then something else caught her eye, it was almost hidden out of sight, but a little corner was poking out. Lena placed the statement down and carefully lifted up some papers and gently pulled the old news paper out of it's hiding spot. It was an old newspaper that was wrinkled up and showed signs of wear and some tear. She read the heading aloud to herself.

"Overwatch disbanded?"

This newspaper was old! Why did she hold onto something this old? More importantly, why did she even have it in the first place? Lena looked a little more, and found a large series of old newspapers, all of them relating to Overwatch before the organization became illegal. Lena kept searching, finding more and more newspapers until she came across one that made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Overwatch medical team killed?"

But before she could read any more, she heard the door of the shop open, the bell ringing.

"Oxford, you awake?"

She froze, she quickly looked around the room, she made a mess with the papers and she quickly tried to fix and arrange the papers in a neat fashion. She heard the woman grumbling and making her way to the staircase. She quickly grabbed the article and ran out off Dakota's room, being as quiet as possible. She had to quickly stash the newspaper in her room without Dakota noticing. But she was already walking up the steps, Lena knew she had only one option left. Sure, Dakota said she should never try it again, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. Lena rushed forward, blinking across the hallway and into her room, crashing and hitting her bed. Well the good thing was she could still blink after so long, but the bad part was it took a toll on her core, causing the light to dim and flicker, losing that blue color. She stashed the newspaper under her bed as Dakota came crashing in the room, seeing Lena laying on the ground, her bed a mess. She sighed.

"What are you doing Oxford?"

Lena only faked a chuckle as she struggled to get up, with the help of Dakota Lena was pulled to her feet. Dakota only sighed as she ruffled her messy short hair, looking at Lena.

"Alright, well get ready. Take a shower and get dressed in 20. Wear something a little more, comfortable."

She said before patting Lena on the back. Lena only smiled and tried her best to ignore the pain she was feeling, her muscles were still sore from all of last night and with that horrible landing, it only made it worse. She smiled and waved as Dakota left her room. Lena glanced at the door, hearing Dakota walk to her room, and she waited before she heard the door close. As much as Lena wanted to grab the newspaper under her bed, she had to wait for tonight. She only had 20 min to get ready for whatever Dakota had planned. She quickly threw on a comfy sweater and a pair of loose fitting jeans, her favorite pair of converse and throwing on a beanie. She didn't care how she looked, honestly, it's already bad enough her face constantly looked like crap everyday so why should she have to try and smooth it over with some nice clothes? It was only a waste of her time. She met up with Dakota, who was waiting downstairs with two to-go coffee cups, handing the one in her right hand to Lena.

"Here, made it just the way you like it, be sure to drink it when it's warm, it's getting chilly out."

Dakota told her as Lena took the cup from her hand, taking a small sip. Lena nodded in approval, she was never fond of anything bitter, she liked sweet things and Dakota knew her way around the kitchen when it came to making drinks. It wasn't too hot, where it would burn her tongue but it was hot enough where she could drink it comfortably without trying to cool it down. Dakota on the other hand, she liked semi-sweet things, mainly because of how old she's gotten, which Lena gets scolded for when she brings it up. Lena waited as Dakota finished packing up a few last items in her bag, taking a drink of her sweet coffee. Dakota zipped up her bag before slinging it over her shoulder and nodding her head towards the door.

"Alright, com'on."

Lena followed Dakota as she headed out, holding the door for her and then locking it after Lena stepped out, shuddering slightly from the slightly cold breeze. Dakota called out a cab and gestured for Lena to get in, which she did.

"Say, where are we going?"

She asked while Dakota sat next to her, letting the backpack rest at her feet. Dakota gave the driver a map as she leaned back in the seat.

"Just to go out for the day, and I figured you might want to do something else rather than spending your Saturday morning serving people."

Dakota replied, taking a drink of her coffee. Lena slightly shrugged, knowing that she was right. She didn't want to spend her day waiting on people, and after that incident yesterday, she only wanted to have a more peaceful and calm day. Lena took another drink of her coffee, enjoying the warmth.

"I heard you were once a pilot Oxford."

Dakota suddenly said, causing Lena to look out the window and grip the cup.

"yeah, once I was."

She muttered, taking a slow drink of her coffee. It suddenly tasted bitter.

"Well, I think you'll like where we're going."

She said, noticing the sour look on Lena's face. Dakota only hoped what she was doing was something good. She hoped it was still there, before they move it to who knows where? She wanted the younger girl to cheer up, this week was hard on her, having to watch countless people mourn her death when she never died. But isn't that how it always is? When it comes to war that is, the public is always ready to claim one dead if there is no word from them. She knew how that is. Dakota softly nudged Lena on the side, giving her an apologetic look.

"How was it? You know, to fly?"

She asked Lena, who softly smiled at the memories that popped up in her head.

"It was.. amazing, a feeling of accomplishment every time your wheels lifted off the ground, it was a feeling that could never get old."

Lena said as she looked out the window, her eyes were looking up to the cloudy sky. Dakota smiled as she looked out the window and the car came to a stop.

"Well, you ready to go and check out some old planes then?"

She asked her as Dakota led Lena out of the car and Lena's eyes lit up looking at the aircraft hangars in the area. She figured the younger girl needed a way to cheer up, somehow and well this was one way she could try to cheer her up.

 **I feel as I'm not getting a full understanding of Tracer's character and expressing her in the story, but then again she is 'dead' to the public so... But hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know if there was something you didn't understand in the reviews or feel free to pm me. I don't have a beta reader so yeah.. bad English. Sorry it was short.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long wait, there was some issues I was having, a friend of mine was going through some family issues and a death in the family and there was some other problems with the beta reading from Rage against the dying of, they were my beta reader for this chapter but there was some issues so I'll update this later with the edited chapter sometime later. Anyways to make up for the lost week I have the next chapter typed up and I will upload it most likely tomorrow. And then we'll be back on our weekly schedule.**

"Today's the day" She kept whispering to herself, her giggly and bubbly self was denying to sit still. She kept rocking, moving, her leg was constantly moving, she fumbled with her thumbs. She wasn't nervous, not as much as she should have been, if anything her excitement was flowing out of her small and frail body. Lena Oxton, the youngest member of Overwatch, and an exceptional pilot. She sat in the waiting room, outside of Winston's lab. "Today's the day" she said aloud, standing up and put her hand proudly on her sides. Lena smiled to herself, waiting for her furry friend to show up. So she was 'a little' early, but she couldn't help it. Lena loved flying, it was the feeling of excitement she had every time the wheels of the plane lifted off of the road, the soft hum of the engine, and the sky, oh her favorite part was seeing the sky. The height of the sky's beauty was only visible at night. The countless stars that decorated the black and sometimes graying sky, there was no words to describe it. Lena loved it. She could lose herself staring into the sky, the clouds, the stars, it was something she could never forget. Finally the lab doors opened and her friend was standing there, a soft smile as he waited for Lena to snap out of her little daydream. He sighed, pushing up his signature black framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Are you ready, Oxton?" He asked, and eagerly she replied yes. She eagerly followed him out of the waiting area and into the med bay, for a quick check up before she would be all prepped up and ready to go. Instead of the usual German doctor everyone knew and loved, there was a team of Overwatch medical staff. Lena went through her usual procedures, quick reflexes tests, eye exams, a blood test, and quick briefing of the safety procedures. But before Lena could move onto the next part, she was stopped by a doctor that was reading over her diagnostics.

"Wait a moment please miss.. Oxton"

She was taller than Lena, her long brown hair was pulled into a side ponytail that rested on her right shoulder. She pushed up her thin framed glasses as she flipped through a few papers on the clipboard in her hand. Lena anxiously waited as the female doctor quickly sat her down and was getting her ready for a shot.

"Because of this test, we also need to inject this fluid to get a better reading of how your internal organs reacts to the Slipstream."

She told Lena in a rushed tone as she quickly wiped her arm and prepped the needle before injecting it into her bloodstream. Lena winced out, the needle was slightly larger than a normal needle, and she could feel that clear fluid flow into her bloodstream.

"Ouch luv, that's a big needle"

She said as the doctor placed a small band-aid on her small wound.

"It's only a normal sized needle"

The doctor flatly told her, then she started writing things down on the clipboard.

"You're free to go"

And Lena was off, getting dressed in her uniform and listening to all of the procedures and the boring lectures she was receiving. She heard them countless times, it was always the same, no matter what plane she was flying. She stepped out and felt the warm rays of the sun warming up her body. "Today's the day"

Or so Lena had thought.

* * *

Ever since that day, the sky never looked as beautiful as it once did. It lost that feeling of adventure, the stars never shined brightly anymore. Instead of countless stars, she could only feel the emptiness all around her. It was a feeling she couldn't enjoy anymore, instead it was a feeling of despair, regret, _fear_. Of course she didn't admit her fear of flying to anyone around her, not even Angelia. But today, she was sitting in the cockpit of a single engine plane, her hands were shaking as she let her fingers trace the gauge meter. She shifted her headset a little, she felt nervous. Lena peeked behind her, and Dakota was standing with an older man, talking and writing out something on a piece of paper. She shivered, quickly wrapping her arms around her frail body. She felt the soft prick of goosebumps slowly start to form on her arm. The plane felt smaller than it should have, almost as if the walls around her were slowly starting to move closer and start suffocating her. Lena gasped out, clutching her neck as she struggled to breathe. It didn't take long for her to rush out of the cockpit, her hand clasped over her shaking mouth as she gagged and gasped for air. Dakota watched as Lena ran out of the small plane, running out to the opposite side of the runway and vomited on the ground.

"Well, maybe not flying anymore, but can I still rent the plane?"

She asked as she handed the older man a check. He only nodded before he tucked away the check in his jacket and walked away from her. Dakota walked over to where Lena was now kneeling, trying to prevent herself from vomiting any more. She placed a hand and firmly patted Lena's back, often rubbing her back as well and patiently waiting for her to stop. Looks like she was right after all.

"There there, take slow and deep breaths."

She told her calmly, wrapping one arm around her shoulder and she continued to pat Lena's back. After Lena's little...situation, Dakota unzipped her bag and brought out a box of tissues and a plastic bag. Good thing she came prepared.

Lena wanted to run away. It was already bad enough she watched all of those people mourn her 'death', and now she can't enjoy her once so favorite past-time. Lena stared at the single engine plane, sitting far from it. Dakota was sitting beside her, rolling a dim lighted cigarette between her gloved fingers. She took a long and slow drag from the cig, exhaling away from Lena.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Dakota finally said, holding the cigarette in between her lips, seeing Lena slightly squirm beside her. She pulled her legs close to her chest, her eyes were focused on her shoes. Dakota sighed softly before plucking the cigarette from her lips and stamping the lit end into the ground.

"Want to talk about it?"

She softly asked, looking at Lena who only hugged herself tighter. Dakota sighed as she pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

"You wanna hear a story?"

Lena just mumbled something that sounded along the lines of "sure". Dakota softly shrugged as she took the cigarette out of her mouth, holding it between her index and middle finger.

"There once was a young girl named Nizhoni, which means beautiful."

She chuckled.

"Nizhoni was adventurous, she wanted to explore the world and see what it held for her. She had a dream."

Dakota took another drag of her cigarette.

"Her dream was to make the world a better place, little by little. As she got older, she lived by her dream. She traveled the world, making small efforts to improve the world. But one day, a large fight broke out. And she was caught in the middle of it. She got out, unharmed. No, maybe she was unharmed physically but after that fight she was no longer the same. Her dream, was long forgotten. The days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. Her dream was nothing but a memory to her."

Dakota stamped out her cigarette.

"She left her dream in the dark."

Dakota stood up and extended a hand towards Lena.

"I don't want you to become like Nizhoni, to lose sight of what's important to you."

Lena slowly grabbed Dakota's hand, then getting pulled up off the ground.

Lena didn't know how long she was sitting there, but she no longer could feel her bum. Dakota managed to get Lena in the small compact single engine airplane, but Dakota was flying the plane, and Lena was sitting 'comfortably' next to her, on the co-pilot seat. Dakota was flying it by herself, and all Lena could do was watch or go in the back and sleep. Lena didn't dare to take a peek out of the window, she kept her eyes low and glued to the floor. Dakota finally spoke.

"There's something I wanted to show you, I just hope it's still there when we get there."

Lena only nodded. Curiosity got to her.

"Who was Nizhoni?"

She asked, lifting her head to meet the side of Dakota's face. The older woman lightly chuckled.

"Someone I used to know"

After that, silence. Lena closed her eyes and focused on the engine's humming. She slowly was drifting off into a small nap.

"We're here"

Dakota had finally announced, causing Lena to wake up from her small nap. When the two landed, Lena looked around her, recognizing it as one of Overwatch's old bases in London. Guilt hit her. Dakota came out of the plane, walking up beside the smaller woman.

"Don't worry, this base has been out of use since they disbanded. I'm sure you already know that."

Lena only nodded. But still, she looked at the empty and abandoned base, memories flooding back of the attack. Dakota placed a hand on her shoulder, lightly shaking her.

"You up for this?"

She asked, watching Lena's expressions. She could only nod.

* * *

Widowmaker was currently sitting atop a roof, a bottle of wine and a wine glass was placed next to her, resting on a folded up cloth. She poured herself a small amount at first, letting the dark liquid swish around before she took a small sip. She wanted to be useful to Talon, but ever since the death of Tracer, she was never the same. That 'thorn in her side' was actually removed, which Widow never thought would ever happen. Fighting with the orange legging girl was her guilty pleasure, of course she would never tell anyone. Made to feel no emotion, that's who she was. But the encounter with Tracer changed that. Widow was no long as emotionless as they made her, it sparked something within her. Widow never knew what it was like to feel, only the thrill of the kill was all she knew. She took another drink of her wine. Pretty soon she would be dispatched overseas to America. She wasn't told what it was for, but there was a mission she was assigned to.

" _Probably another assassination"_

She thought to herself as she poured herself another drink.

"Drinking all alone luv?"

Widow sneered.

"Awe share some with me luv!"

Again she heard that cocky voice, and again she tried to ignore it.

"What'cha looking at luv?"

Finally she responded.

"An annoyance"

She knew they were pouting without even looking.

"You're cold luv. Maybe you just need something to warm you up, or maybe _someone_ "

She took another sip as she only glared. She saw those wiggling eyebrows and that cocky smile. She looked down to the empty glass, then back to the bottle. Should she have another one? Or should she stop? Her eyes rested on that cocky smile, then back to the bottle. She's been saving this bottle for quite a long time, but she didn't want to drink it all tonight, but then there was also _her_. She drank the rest of it. That cocky grin returned,and with a pleading voice called out to her.

"Come to me luv"

Widow knew it was wrong, but she had no choice, those soft and kissable lips, begging to be touched, those light hazel eyes that was showing her true intentions, hearing that cocky voice weaken slightly with every touch, it was addicting to her. She wanted to hear more of it, the soft gasps, the way her back arched slightly from her delicate touches, she couldn't get enough. She knew it was wrong, but it felt so right. Touching her, kissing her, everything about her seemed so right. It was until she woke up, her headset was blinking with incoming messages. Widow placed a hand against the side of her head as she answered the incoming message.

"Widowmaker here"

"Finally you pick up. Report back to are needed."

Then it cut off before she could say anything. She groaned slightly, taking a look around her. Her bottle was empty, knocked over and her wine glass was busted on the other side of the roof. She rubbed her hands against her temple, scowling slightly. She closed her eyes, then opened them as she tried to remember what happened. But something else caught her attention, as she shifted her legs, she felt something, else. Her skin was a little warmer than it usually was, and there was a sudden wetness in between her legs. She was not proud of herself.

"Merde.."

Looks like she's not drinking again for a long while.

* * *

 **This chapter was a little shaky, but it did get uploaded but anyways looks like someone was being naughty c;**

 **This was a little but of fan service, for I know this story is taking a while and Widow and Tracer won't be meeting for a while. Anyways please review and tell me what you think and if anything seemed off please let me know, I can't read minds and I would really like to hear from some of you guys.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello to you all! So, this chapter hasn't been beta read but oh well. I made a promise and I'll stick to it. Like I said in the previous chapter, I updated the next chapter for you all to read yay**

 **I even wrote a little more just to make it up c:**

Lena wasn't even supposed to have been there that day, but she was. She was as happy and energetic as always, running up and down the halls, waving at her comrades and friends, chatting and just spending her free day just chilling at the base. She went to go and meet the German doctor, knocking on her door and entering as she heard the thick German voice tell her to come in. The good and trusted doctor everyone knew and loved, Angela Ziegler was sitting in her desk, currently finishing up a report. She looked up and saw the cheeky smile on Lena's face.

"What'cha up to?"

Lena asked as Angela just softly smiled.

"Finishing up my reports."

She waved the few papers she was writing on for emphasis. Lena only sighed as she plopped down on the chair that sat opposite of Angela's desk.

"I think you work too much luv. You need to find someone, or maybe just someone to shag."

Lena told the German woman who only shook her head.

"Ah being a doctor is a full time job Lena. I can't rest knowing there are lots of people who need our help."

Lena's heard this so many times, the same excuse the swiss woman gave her every time.

"Come on luv, you can't be in your thirties and still be a virgin!"

Angela's face turned a bright red as she replied.

"I am not a virgin!"

Angela groaned as she placed her hands over her face.

"Can we not have this conversation?"

She didn't bother to look at the cocky smiling girl, but only kept her head low. Lena grinned.

"Oh? Who's the lucky man?

She grinned ever more.

"Or the lucky lady?"

Angela blushed even more, this time her ears were glowing a bright red.

"Stop, stop stop! Ve are not having this conversation!"

Angela turned around in her chair, trying to ignore the prying girl's ever so curious questions. She sighed before standing up and in the process of abruptly standing up the swedish doctor ended up knocking over a photo frame. The glass cracked as it met with the floor face-first, and she bent down to pick up the old frame.

"Sorry luv, didn't mean for that to happen"

The bubbly brit replied as she watched the older woman pick up the frame and stare at the old photo that was once protected by the glass. The german doctor smiled as she placed the glassless frame back on her desk, this time facing the photo to Lena. She peered closely at the aged photo, clearly it's seen better days, but the black-and-white photo was taken care of, despite its worn out state.

"How old is this photo?"

Lena had asked, her eyes glued to the blonde woman who was smiling so happily in the photo. Angela smiled softly before she sat back down in her chair, leaning back slightly.

"About 10 years old, I am 37 you know.. But I vas 27 when I took that picture. I was stationed in Zurich, before I was recruited into Overwatch."

She briefly explained, waiting for the messy brown haired girl to put the frame back down.

"Whos this?"

She asked, pointing to a taller woman that was holding the German doctor in her arms, her hands were wrapped firmly around her waist. Lena showed Angela before she noticed the slight hesitation in those bright blue eyes. Angela smiled as she took the frame from Lena's hands before placing it face-down.

"She was, an old friend of mine I guess you could say, and my inspiration."

Angela spoke of her softly, a light smile could be found on the often stressed out doctor.

"She helped me create the Caduceus staff."

The blonde haired woman frowned.

"Ah but as the american saying goes, _all good things must come to an end_ , there was an attack. Talon had heard of the development of the staff and they wanted it. They attacked and in the crossfire she was killed. But that's when I joined Overwatch, if I didn't leave her alone that day in the base, if I only had convinced her to maybe even join me for a cup of coffee, she would have been alive today."

She cleared her throat, smiling at Lena before she stood up and patted the younger woman on the shoulder.

"Anyways, you should go and bug Winston for a little bit while I clean up."

Lena nodded, noticing the saddened look that reflected in those empty blue eyes. She walked out and left the doctor to her own thoughts. She walked her way over to where Winston was residing for the time being, since he had to be here to control the base and act as Overseer of the operations since he had sent out the recall. The big and furry monkey was sitting in his tire swing, casually holding a bottle of unopened peanut butter. Lena smirked as she jogged and threw herself up, casting her body to where Winston was lazing about. He looked and saw Lena throw herself to him, and in panic he dropped his peanut butter as he reached out and caught the younger girl, almost falling out of his tire.

"Lena!"

She giggled as she was helped to her feet, brushing off imaginary dust off of her uniform. She then saluted him, giving him her signature smile.

"Lena Oxton at your service sir!"

"Lena, today's your day off. Why don't you go and relax? Take a small breather and enjoy the town for a day."

He told her, picking up his beloved peanut butter and twisting the cap open.

"Awe but I wanted to see you luv!"

Which was a half-life. He only chuckled lightly before he dipped one of his chunky fingers into the creamy substance, scooping it up and sucking it off his finger. He savored the taste. Lena only sighed.

"That's what everyone keeps telling me. But there's nothing to do other than maybe drink and eat. The town's boring"

She muttered before sitting in his large tire swing, finding a pillow and a blanket for her to sit on. Winston only shrugged as he casually sat next to her, softly rocking the swing. Lena looked down, her eyes were watching the bulky chronal accelerator flicker slightly. Winston took notice quickly.

"Mind if I take a quick look at your chronal accelerator?"

Lena shrugged as Winston carefully examined his handiwork, but finding nothing wrong.

"Hmm, well that's strange. Everything seems to be working fine, nothing's out of place."

He spoke, examining the craftsmanship even closer, his eyes were scanning over every piece before he gave up. Lena didn't understand most of what Winston had told her, she just kind of zoned out the minute he started stating the capacity of the accelerator, using words that Lena never knew existed. Unknown to the two, a black fog began to creep it's way through the vents above them, slowly making it's way around them and to the back of Winston's lab. The fog surrounded the two large barrels of pressurised gasoline, before setting them off.

* * *

Lena shivered, her eyes were glued to the black marks of the explosion, seeing the faint outline of where Winston has tried to cover her from the explosion. She knelt down, using her right hand to trace the fading outline. Dakota watched, seeing the young girl stare at what became her downfall. It was hard, for Lena to take it all in at once, but she needed the young girl to move on. As tragic as it was, Lena was once the energetic and happy face of Overwatch, and even if the world thought she was dead, Lena needed to move on. Dwelling on the past isn't gonna save her. She needed Lena to get back on her feet, the nightmares aren't gonna stop unless she does something about. Dakota gazed at her gloved hands, a soft sigh escaped her lips as she knelt down beside Lena, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want to go back?"

She asked her softly, expecting Lena to softly nod but instead she saw the hardened look on the brit's face.

"No"

She stood up, walking out of the lab and Dakota followed after, taking long strides in her walk to catch up to the speed walking girl. Dakota finally caught up with Lena, noticing her eyes were glued to the door she was standing before. It didn't take long to realize who's door she was standing before, the name gave it all away.

"Angela Ziegler"

Dakota muttered to herself, hoping the younger woman didn't hear her. But she didn't, her thoughts were racing back to the conversation she shared with the German woman minutes before the attack. Slowly Lena gripped the handle, turning it and pushing the door open. Dakota held out a light to Lena, who took it and flicked on the switch, the light illuminating the darkened room. There was dust everywhere, piling here and there. Dakota sneezed, covering her mouth with a napkin she quickly pulled out of her pocket. She stayed by the desk, noticing faint handprints on the handles and the desktop. But Lena was caught staring at the frame that was face down on the floor, noticing the glass was still there. She knelt down, using one hand to hold onto the light and the other slowly picked up the frame, noticing the photo was still there, even after these years. But there was one issue, it was ripped. Dakota brought out her own light, blowing some of the dust away before she used her napkin to open the drawer, finding a large pile of paperwork. Lena stared at the photo in shock, she noticed small specks of blood on the worn paper, but then something else had caught her eyes. She quickly stashed the photo in her pocket before facing the light towards the large puddle. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what that puddle was.

"Blood…"

She whispered, but Dakota snapped up the second that word escaped the brit's lips, quickly stashing the paperwork in her bag and finding the large blood stains in the room. Dakota knelt down and placed a finger down on the liquid, but instead of finding it dry it stuck to her finger. Dakota pulled away and grabbed another tissue and wiped her finger.

"We should leave."

Dakota told her, but Lena wasn't gonna leave. Not yet.

"No"

"It's fresh! Come on, we need to leave before we find out who or what is here."

Dakota argued, quickly grabbing Lena by the shoulder and pulling her toward the door. Lena shook her off, pushing the older woman away.

"No! I'm not leaving until I say so."

She growled, those once so empty eyes burned with hatred, and the sneer she had only made Dakota regret her decision even more.

"Fine. I'll be back in Winston's lab."

She muttered before walking out and leaving Lena alone. There was a feeling she couldn't shake, this place may have been abandoned by Overwatch agents, but something else was here.

"Lena's a strong girl, she can handle herself"

Dakota said to herself, trying to reassure herself that her choice of leaving the girl alone in that bloody room was a good choice. Some good choice that was.

* * *

Lena didn't bother with the native woman, she faced the blood again and flashed the light in the area, noticing a trail of bloody footprints and blood making it's way out of the office window. She followed it, noticing there was more than just one pair of feet. Lena knelt down, noticing the distinctive footprints, one that was not human.

"Omnic.."

She muttered softly, the large robotic prints stood out from the smaller and more human prints. Lena frantically patted her torso, checking for anything that could serve as a weapon. She could only find her flashlight. Lena followed the prints, her flashlight in hand, noticing the two prints turn into one. Soon it was only the Omnic's prints she was following, her instincts were telling her to run away, to stop and go back to Dakota. But she wasn't going back, not after she came so far. But as she rounded the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks, her legs refused to move. Those hazel eyes were locked on something, something that she never thought she would see again, the smiley face button, all bright yellow with a smile that was forever etched on the button. But it wasn't yellow, it was red, red was splattered across that devious smile, the pitch black lifeless eyes were painted with that crimson blood. The footprints kept going on, but that feeling in her gut stopped her from continuing. It only seemed like yesterday when she saw that button, the happy smile, the happy couple, but now, that smiley face didn't look as happy as it once was. She trembled as her fingers slowly wiped some of the blood off of that smile, her fingers slowly gripped the edges as she lifted it up, her breathing was becoming more shallow. She didn't deserve this, no one deserved any of this. But it was all still fresh, there was time right? There was still time to save her right? No one has to die, death isn't coming for her. No, she's gonna find her and she will live. Lena clutched the button in her hand, then she continued. Her legs moved on her own, armed with her little flashlight in her hand. The prints began to fade, the blood puddles were shrinking and becoming smaller, but the prints were still there. Soon she found herself standing in the garden, overgrown and in need of trimming. Lost of yellow flowers were blooming, the cold air was slowly nipping at the freshly opened flowers. Lena knelt down and slowly plucked a flower from its small group, her eyes were scanning over the petals.

"Angela loved these.."

She found herself saying, suddenly remembering the German doctor who would always smile when Lena would come in with a large bundle of her favorite flowers. The smile she gave her as she accepted them and placed them in her vase. And Lena would just smile and laugh while the doctor spruced up some of the flowers. The soft and happy feeling she once knew was gone in an instant before she heard a twig snap and soon she found herself face first into the ground. She groaned out in pain, clutching her head and finding warm liquid was running down the side of her head. Groggily she looked up, finding the owner to those bloody prints. He clearly was in need of a repair, one arm was ripped off, his face was badly caved in, he no longer looked the same as he did before. He was covered in blood, it was covering his one arm, his face had a bloody handprint that was smeared down to his neck. He reached forward and grabbed Lena by her neck, his one hand slowly crushing her throat. Lena grabbed his wrist, using both hands to try and free herself from his crushing grip.

"S-Stop!"

He didn't stop. He didn't move.

"Stop it!"

A weak voice yelled out, her voice covered in pain. But he chose to ignore her. That was until there was the sound of a gun cocking.

He turned, his robotic face was glued to where the girl once laid, but this time Dakota was standing there, one arm wrapped around her neck, having her in a chokehold and there was a pistol pressed to the girl's temple.

"Let her go."

Dakota calmly replied, seeing the horror in Lena's eyes from the scene that was happening.

"W-Why?.."

Lena croaked out, seeing someone she respected hold a gun to an innocent person's head. Dakota looked back to the Omnic.

"Let her go" Her thumb pulled back the hammer, having a stare down with the Omnic. "Otherwise someone will get hurt."

He forcefully shoved Lena back, causing her to trip and fall on her back, coughing and her hands were over her throat, rubbing at the bruising flesh. Dakota slowly let go of the hammer, then she slowly let go of the girl, her gun set on him. Lena forced herself to her feet, struggling to stand firmly on her two feet. Dakota pulled the hammer back, the barrel was facing right in between those two slits, watching his every move. Dakota shot a glance to Lena, noticing the state she was in. The light bruising around her neck, the horror in her eyes, the way her face paled from seeing the gun, she knew this was a mistake. The Omnic slowly walked towards her, ignoring the gun that was trained on him. He had only one thought in mind. _Save her_

He knelt down now that he was in arms reach of his beloved girl, his one arm was extended towards her as she slowly crawled to him. Dakota slowly walked away, then went into a small job where Lena stood.

"What were you thinking?"

Lena hissed at her, pressing a finger to the older woman's chest, her voice full of anger. Dakota tried to stay calm, she tapped her fingers lightly against the side of the gun, trying to focus her thoughts on the _tap, tap, tap_ of the metal.

"I was trying to save you."

She ended up muttering through gritted teeth, seeing Lena look at her with horror.

"Save me? You were trying to save me! You almost killed her!"

Lena pointed to where the Omnic-human couple once were, only finding crushed flowers. She turned back to Dakota, gritting her teeth in anger.

"Why would you do that?"

She started pounding her fist on her chest, slowly falling to her knees. Dakota stayed silent, watching the young girl pound her fist repeatedly, the teary eyes and the quivering lips.

"I did was I had to do. He was trying to kill you."

She finally spoke, in a calm and tender voice, but Lena only pushed her back. Tears were forming at the corner of her eyes, her voice cracked.

"Like hell you bloody was! You held a gun at an unarmed woman's bloody head!"

Dakota only straightened her posture, stuffing the gun back in the holdster she had under her jacket.

"Lena listen to me, you were being attacked and there was no right way to-"

"No right way to what? Save me? You could have-"  
"Could have what? Shoot? Kill? Lena you were dying, and trust me that isn't a sight I want to see, but you don't understand what it's like Lena. You weren't there!"

Dakota yelled, almost screaming at her, she wasn't calm, oh no she was anything but calm. That crazed look in her eyes, the way her lower lip quivered every now and then, but oh the tapping. The repeated _tap, tap, tap_ that she kept doing, she didn't look the same. Dakota took a step forward, her hands were grabbing at the smaller girl's shoulders, a death grip that held her in place to keep staring at those crazed and wide eyes of the native.

"I'm not losing you again"

She whispered, teary eyed and mouth quivering in fear. Slowly she slid a hand up to Lena's cheek, placing both hands on her face and pulling her close and kissing her forehead.

"I'm not losing anyone anymore."

This time she regained her posture, clearing her throat and taking a few steps back before turning and shivered slightly.

"We need to get going, before they come back"

And that was the first time Lena found herself unable to trust the woman who had saved her life, the woman who gave her a home, nursed her back to life, and gave her a small hope of living life again, but for the first time Lena didn't want to follow her. But instead she followed after her, taking small and heavy steps, her eyes forced on the ground as Dakota led her back to the airplane. For the first time Lena felt scared for her life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, so it's been too long I know. A lot of things happened, I attended a funeral, I had a family member hospitalized for a week, and now we do the IV thing at home, and now I'm getting lots of threats. Well, I'm sorry for the late late update, I'm trying to stay on task and finish up some more chapters so those can be beta read.. I hope you all enjoy..**

* * *

Dakota sat in her 'man cave', taking out everything she had packed in her bag. A first aid kit, some gauze, medicine, needles, a flashlight, two armed handheld guns, extra magazines, a knife and a dagger, a set of fake ID's, the stack of stolen documents, and various pieces of machinery and blueprints she had found in Winston's lab. Dakota quickly put all of the unwanted items away, only leaving the blueprints and documents out. When she was done, she sighed before pulling a chair up to the table and sitting down, knowing that this would be a long night. She looked over all of his blueprints, or well, what was left of them. Sure he may have been smart for a monkey but surely he knew better than to leave his work around like this. She set the papers down and picked up the stack of papers, scanning through the text. Now Mercy on the other hand, she left everything out in the open. At least the gorilla had some sense to hid some of his work. It took Dakota a small while to find all the blueprints stashed away in the rubber tire. But for Mercy, all of her papers were neatly organized in her desk, with the year's worth of dust. Almost everything that happened at the base was there up to the attack. Dakota was shifting through the papers but then she gritted her teeth, finding a certain passage that stuck out to her. Mercy's report on the attack in Zurich before she was recruited into Overwatch.

 _"Angela"_

Dakota muttered as she crumbled up the paper, throwing it into the flammable trash bin beside her door. She needed information, much more than this. She pulled out her phone, speed dialing and she held her phone to her ear, it only ringed once before someone answered.

"Hello?"

Came an older voice, and Dakota lightly chuckled before she replied.

"My old friend! Care to join me for a cup of tea tomorrow? We have some catching up to do."

* * *

Lena was sitting in her room, her thoughts were clouded by the events of today. The blood, the button, the omnic, and Dakota. The fact that Dakota had pulled a gun on someone who was unarmed, bleeding, and defenseless, it was something Lena never thought the Native woman would ever do. She respected her, saw her as her savior, thought good things of the foreign woman, but now? She was lost. She could never look at Dakota the same way anymore. It was impossible for her to look at Dakota the same way, because she wasn't the same. Her image of her was breaking apart. Lena reached into her pocket, finding the smiley face button, still red and haunting her. She left her room and went to the bathroom, washing off the blood and drying it off. Her finger traced the smile, but she could still see it. The red that crept it's way back onto the black smile, the yellow face, those beady black eyes, she could still see it. No matter how many times she tried to wash it off, it slowly crept it's way back, slowly getting more and more gorey. Small flecks of skin, tissue, and even small pieces of ripped flesh made it's way onto the haunting smile. Again she dipped the button under the hot water, waiting for it to wash it all away. But it never went away, and soon the water turned red, blood oozing out of the faucet and pouring onto the button. She started to panic, trying to turn off the faucet but her hands were covered in blood. Her fingers were trembling, shaking from all of that weight. But there was nothing on her hands. Slowly Lena took a step back, forcing her eyes shut and counting out loud.

"..One.."

 _None of this is real_

"..Two.."

 _It wasn't your fault_

".Three.."

 _There was nothing you could have done about it_

"..four.."

 _Stop trying to be the hero_

"..fi..ve.."

 _Tracer's dead_

"..s-si..x.."

She choked. Placing her hands over her head and slowly sliding down the wall. She tried to stop the tightening grip on her throat, trying to take calm and slow breaths, Tears were slowly escaping from her eyes, and she choked on a sob.

"..Tracer's dead.."

 _Yes, that's right. Tracer's dead_.

"..That means Lena's dead."

 _Yes, Lena's dead. So, what does that make you?_

She choked on more sobs, biting down on her lower lip and trying to stop from crying. She didn't want any of this anymore. She slowly forced herself to stand, her legs trembling and almost buckling under her weight. Her gaze slowly shifted from the cold tile floor, slowly making it's way up to the person in the mirror. Features so different, the shape of her face, the freckles that were sprayed across her skin, it looked just like her, but it wasn't her. The pale face, the hollow cheeks, eyes that held no life, and that empty smile, oh that empty smile was taunting her. The dark circles that formed under those lifeless eyes, she knew it wasn't her, but she couldn't stop looking at her. That girl in the mirror wasn't her, there was no way. She blinked, and soon she was staring at her own reflection. All wide eyed and with a panicked look on her face. Her hair was a mess, water was dripping down her face, pooling on the tile flooring. She finally looked down, her hands were covered in clear water, nothing red. Finally she turned off the sink, hastily grabbed a towel and wiped her face. She groaned before throwing the towel into the hamper. She took another look at the mirror, still unable to recognize the face that was staring back into her.

* * *

Pharah was found in the weight room, pushing her body to her limits with the countless number of weights in the large room. She was absent throughout the whole day, only to find her working out alone. Her muscle ached with every movement she made, but she refused to quit. Her team, the temple, her home, it was attacked and she didn't even know about it! She gritted her teeth in anger, forcing herself to push up another set of 250 lbs. Her arms quivered under the strain, but she didn't rack it up, she wouldn't let herself quit not yet. She went for another set, her arms were giving in under the weight and she gritted her teeth, her feet were slightly flailing, but then a strong and muscular hand helped her lift the weight and guided the bar back to the rack. Pharah looked up and saw the pink haired ex-muscle builder Zarya standing there. She smiled.

"First rule of working out, always have a spotter."

She said in her thick Russian accent, only see the Egyptian girl roll her eyes and sit up.

"I didn't require your help."

She replied harshly as Zarya only shook her head and knelt down beside her.

"You work out to relieve stress no?"

She asked but Pharah only looked away.

"Listen, we are comrades for reason. We big family here. Family you can talk to anytime."

Zarya stood up before lightly patting Pharah on the shoulder before she left the weight room. Pharah only mumbled before got up and went to the small locker room. She could feel her whole body ache from her strenuous workout, she was in need of a serious shower. She hastily grabbed a towel and some other things, her shampoo, soap, conditioner, and all that other stuff. She went to the showers located in the back and peeled off her sticky and sweaty workout clothes, turning on the shower and stepping in. She instantly relaxed, feeling the hot water melt away some of her aches and soreness. But she didn't let it last long, she started to wash her body and shampoo her hair, her movements were painful but she still forced herself to move and wash her body. She was going to be sore in the morning that's for sure. Soon enough she turned off the hot water, grabbing her towel and drying herself off. She went back to her locker, pulling out a nice clean set of clothes. A comfortable pair of black shorts and a plain white shirt. Honestly she didn't feel like dressing the part of a guard, she just wanted to go to her bunk and sleep off her pain. As she quickly changed into the clean clothes, a knock was heard on the metal lockers, causing Pharah to look at the intruder. But it was no intruder, just the friendly and kind hearted doctor everyone loved. Her blonde hair was put in a tight bun, she had glasses perched on her nose, and she was wearing her usual white lab coat and a pair of comfortable jeans. She smiled as she walked up to the tanned and muscular Egyptian woman.

"I've come to check up on you."

Pharah was slightly hurt from that sentence, her little crush on the slightly older doctor was distracting to her.

"You don't need to."

She had to act tough, she doesn't need to rely on someone to take care of her. She's not a baby for God's sake.

"But Zarya wanted me to."

Now that was like a slap to the face. That only meant she was here because Zarya had asked her to check up on her. It wasn't out of kindness or anything, just as a usual doctor checking up on a patient. Pharah quickly packed up her things into her little bag before slinging it over her shoulder.

"I'm fine"

Came her cold and emotionless reply before she walked out of the locker room, ignoring what Mercy had to say.

Of course she didn't come to see you! She only came because that Russian told her to!

Pharah walked faster, making the German doctor jog to catch up to her pace.

"Vait! Fareeha!"

She stopped in her tracks, turning and glaring at the German woman.

"What did you call me?"

 _Pharah what are you doing stop!_

Mercy cleared her throat and stood at her tallest, but she was still short compared to the 5'11 woman.

"Fareeha, let's talk about this"

She answered in a calm voice, staring back into those dark brown eyes. Fareeha growled as she took a step forward, shoving her finger into the doctor's upper chest.

"Do. Not. Call. Me. _Fareeha!_ "

She gritted her teeth in annoyance as she said the last part of her sentence before storming off to where her bunk was.

Mercy stayed in the hall, just watching her figure get smaller and smaller until she could no longer see her. She rubbed at the soreness she felt from the jabs of the Egyptian woman. She slowly turned in the opposite direction before walking back to her office, where the pink haired Russian woman was currently sitting in.

"How did it go? She cry to you?"

Mercy only shook her head before plopping down in her chair.

"Nein, she didn't want to talk and she left in a rush."

The Russian only groaned before standing up.

"I will get her to talk."

Mercy quickly went against that idea.

"Nein! She's not one to give in so easily, let's just wait for her to be comfortable with telling us."

Mercy told the pink haired woman who only nodded before she sat back down. Zarya only shrugged before making herself comfortable in the chair.

"I still think we should get her to talk."

Mercy only sighed before leaned forward on the desk, her elbows propped up on it.

"Fa- Um _Pharah_ , isn't the type to accept help when offered, if anything she hardly accepts help. Unlike her mother."

She grumbled the last part, which made Zarya slightly smirk.

"You knew the mother?"

Mercy only chuckled before she gave the Russian woman a somber look.

"Yes, I knew her quite well. A little before I was recruited I met her and her daughter when they were stationed with the company I vas working with for a while."

The Russian woman smiled as she crossed her arms, waiting for the blonde German to continue.

"I got to know her on a personal level, and her daughter Fareeha was quite the troublemaker back then, even more than she is now. There was a time where she fell and scraped her knee and I tried to patch her up but she went the whole day bleeding and refusing my help."

She chuckled, her mind racing back to the days where a younger Angela and Fareeha would be slightly bickering and arguing from time to time. The Russian woman chuckled as she slightly shifted in her seat, leaning a bit closer to the doctor.

"How did you get her to let you patch her up?"

She shrugged.

"I'm not sure to be completely honest. She just showed up in my office asking me to patch her up. It was often like that, and after time I learned she was never one to seek out help in the first place. She stubborn as hell I'll tell you that."

Mercy laughed afterwards, making the ex-weight builder laugh with her.

"And the mother?"

Mercy could only sigh and shake her head.

"She was stubborn, but she knew when it was time to give in and she was well respected. She had quite the reputation."

The Russian woman nodded in agreement.

"She was quite _'famous'_ back in the home land."

"Yes, she was hired as protection and her daughter was like a buy-one-get-one-free kind of deal. You gotta give it to her, she was a single mother raising such a stubborn child. I don't know how she did it, but she did. I couldn't imagine having a child, being a doctor is a full time job and it would be difficult to raise a child and save hundreds of lives at the same time."

Mercy leaned back in her chair, her arms were resting behind her head as Zayra stood up and stretched.

"Mmmh I find it difficult to imagine you without a child doctor. You'd seem perfect, seeing that you're already like a mom figure to many of the agents."

Mercy only sighed in embarrassment, burying her face in her hands.

"Ugghh it was one time I swear."

She grumbled as Zarya chuckled and patted the smaller woman on her back.

"Do not fret friend, I think you make great mother."

Mercy just groaned as Zarya slowly made her way to the door.

"I'll see you in the morning. Early to bed early to rise!"

And the pink haired woman was opening the door and she left the room, leaving Angela alone in her small office. She snuck a look at the clock, it was only a quarter till 9. Zarya had some weird sleeping schedule, she was always in her bunk by 10 and you'd never hear anything from her until 6 in the morning, which was when she was doing her usual morning workout routine. She could never understand the Russian woman, but she was healthy and in really good shape. Mercy was envious of her height, being 6'5" and extremely well built, she couldn't help it. Unlike her, Mercy was 5'7" with a slim and small figure. But she did have her small moments where she enjoyed her smaller frame, especially during battles and she had to quickly escape through small spaces and squeeze through thin openings in walls to stay safe. So being small did have it's advantages, but unlike Tracer, who was killed and her small frame did nothing good for Lena, how Angela missed her so. The quirky girl was always getting herself in trouble with other agents during the battlefield, especially when she went after that purple-skinned woman. Mercy gritted her teeth in annoyance.

 _"Amelie Lacroix.."_

There was a lot of thing's wrong with her, and having her ruthlessly and in cold blood murder her husband and join Talon. Sure it was well known that she was 'brainwashed' and all, but for them to have done it to the point where she would kill someone she once loved so much, to have made her into a ruthless and emotionless killing machine, that kind of science and medicine was beyond what Mercy could do. She was hardly a _'doctor'_ , all she ever did was wave her staff around and heal wounds without any hard work. She relied too much on the technology she created, no, to say she _created_ it would be a lie. She didn't create it, she did help with it, but she wasn't the one who drew the blueprints, crafted the prototypes, or even perfect the nano-bytes to self heal. Mercy was only a part of it, it wasn't like she wanted to make the world a better place, which is her main reasoning for joining Overwatch. If there was going to be any way to make the world a better place, Overwatch is the organization to make it happen. Even at it's current state, Overwatch still had it benefits, all she needs to do now is to take it apart little by little. Angela looked back to the small stack of papers on her desk. To make this a better world, sometimes you can't salvage what's already been done, but only to scrap it all and start over from scratch.


	8. Chapter 8

**So I got around to this chapter.. I'm trying to get back on schedule but that hasn't been working out for me. I've just had a bad few weeks lately and I'm try to stay positive and write what I can. Anyways I'm done rambling, hope you all enjoy O(^~^**

Widow was sitting in the small bland room they called the cafeteria in their current base, nursing a lukewarm cup of tea. She had no interest in the newspapers that were stacked in the corner beside her, but her attention were set on the book that laid before her. She was a passive reader, normally reading but not even knowing what she read. She only faked her interest, and normally the books she found were medical books or science and physics related topics. But she still read them casually, often remembering small details of the human body and how much weight it would take for a human to crush under pressure and so on. She just kept reading and reading, still nursing her now cold tea. She finally looked up from her book when she heard a loud grunt and a noisy slurp. The other one of her infamous duo, Reaper was standing before her. A mug of black coffee in one hand and a newspaper in his other hand. She waited for him to start the conversation.

"You're late."

She shrugged.

"I will make sure it never happens again."

He growled under his mask, taking a seat next to her and roughly opened his newspaper.

"Meet the higher ups after breakfast, they are expecting you."

He told her as he fished out a flask from his inner breast pocket and twisted the cap off. He poured the remaining liquid into his mug before he took a drink. Widow only raised an eyebrow before she took a sip of her tea. She could never understand the man sitting next to her, how he was able to eat or drink without taking off his mask. It was more like he emitted a small amount of smoke which surrounded whatever he wanted and it dissolved before it touched his mask.

"Did the docteur return?"

She asked him, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes.

"For now."

He grumbled as he turned a page in the newspaper. Widow slowly nodded as she took another drink of her now cold tea. She might as well get an early checkup while the Docteur is on base. Widow threw her small cup of tea in the trash before she picked up her book and left the cafeteria and made her way to the medical labs. Since Talon is a terrorist organization, having doctors in the base was rare at times, they were always occupied in other bases or on the frontlines of certain missions and there was only one specific doctor Widow would ever let operate or even touch her. She quickened her pace, which was something she rarely did unless she was trying to increase the distance between her and her prey. But she rounded the corner and found the med lab door wide open, and a small line was beginning to form. Lots of rookies that had broken bones or injuries were lining up, hoping to receive medical help for their wounds from long ago. She gritted her teeth before she pushed her way to the front of line, her status as the best assassin in Talon granted her some special services. Of course the rookies knew that, and they knew better than to stop the deadly woman if they wanted to live. It's rare but there have been times where a Talon rookie had got on the wrong side of her and they ended up lying in the courtyard with a hole in between their eyes.

Widow stood before the Docteur, seeing that raven mask made her glare at the woman.

"Everyone but Widow needs to leave. I will attend to you all in time."

She said curtly, hearing the mumbles and groans of the rookies as they shuffled out of the med bay. The raven masked woman closed the door and locked it as the last rookie made his way out of the room. Widow took a seat on one of the empty beds as the masked woman made her way to her.

"I'm too old for this you know."

She muttered to Widow who only shrugged. The doctor sighed before she went to her set of equipment and brought out a thin needle and she set out two glass bottles, one filled with a dark purple liquid and the other was a clear fluid.

"I think we should ease up on your dose, I don't know how the higher ups would like finding out that their best assassin is taking drugs to numb the pain."

The doctor said as she began to prep the needles and wiped a part of Widow's neck with an alcohol pad.

"Just do it."

She hissed out, only making the doctor mumble in some inaudible language. Widow always had to have her eyes closed when she had things injected into her. She wasn't necessarily afraid of needles or having sharp objects pierce her skin, but it was rather the sight of seeing the expression on the doctor's faces, how they were almost expecting some sort of reaction from her, those eyes were always scanning her body for any small thing to move or to spasm. It was the thought of those eyes staring at her, watching her every move, constantly observing her not as a person but as a test subject. Widow may have been wiped of her emotions, but she did have the smallest standards of wanting to be treated like another human being. She knew it was only a small thought she should have never thought of, but it was another thing that kept bugging her and itching at her. But then she met the Docteur, who instantly noticed how strange and how on edge Widow was when around her normal doctors. She didn't always wear a mask, but after learning of Widow's issue with doctors, she started wearing the mask. At first she wore a cheap dog mask that Widow hated, and she hated that mask with a passion. Everytime she saw it she would end up bashing the doctor's face in with the butt of her rifle. After a long while of the doctor taking that rifle butt to her face, she switched it out to the raven mask she now currently wears.

Widow looked away she felt cold hands touch her cold flesh and then the cold metal that pierced her skin.

"How's the hands?"

Widow asked absentmindedly, only hearing a scoff from the masked woman.

"Nonexistent as always"

Came her usual response, making Widow roll her eyes.

"Take in a deep breath in 3.. 2.. And 1."

Widow followed the doctor's orders and took in a deep breath as she felt the cold liquid flush into her bloodstream. Since her body was at a lower body temperature, the Docteur found it easier for the medicine to dissolve into Widow's body when she took deep breaths. Widow kept her eyes trained on the floor, silently counting the tile flooring. It was a trick the Docteur had taught her to occupy herself during these check ups. Then she felt another prick and a flow of ice cold fluid that made her body break out in goosebumps. She heard the Docteur chuckle as she glared at the woman.

"I never get tired of this part though."

Widow just huffed and waited for the Docteur to remove the needle from her flesh.

"Don't forget about your little meeting with the higher ups after this check up. I heard they were debating whether or not to let you roam around freely."

The Docteur said as she began to put away the medicine and tidy up her small work space.

"Hey Widow, guess what I found?"

She asked the purple skinned assassin mischiefly, which made Widow regret turning to face the masked woman.

"And what is that Docte-"

It took only a quick second, that was all she needed before Widow was quickly slamming her bare palm straight down on the Doctor's mask, pushing the woman straight to the ground. She groaned in pain as she had her hands covering her face.

"I.. still.. Got it.."

She wheezed out before Widow only flipped her ponytail in response as she swayed her hips as she walked to the door. Widow said no word as she exited the lab, all of the recruits and newbies were pushing to get in and they just stared at the doctor who was covering her face with a poorly made plastic dog mask.

Being called up personally from the higher ups only meant two things, immediate death or, you were to be sentenced to reconditioning. And trust Widow when the cold hearted assassin would shiver from just the thought of having to go through that pain again. It was the only time she was at her lowest, forced to take all of the pain they projected onto her, some of the regular torturers did it just to relieve stress. And sometimes when you're a male working for a Terrorist organization, they not only get stressed, but sexually frustrated. They could do anything to their victim, as long as it guaranteed success in breaking their spirit. Widow would have preferred death over being reconditioned again. She could only silently hope she was getting briefed on a private mission or something else. Something that rarely happened. She made her way to the large double doors. Two elite guards stood there, nodding to Widow as she strode by them. The long and narrow hallway seemed to give off an eerie feeling that pricked her at her core. Her heels were heard clicking with every step she took, echoing around her in that dim lit hallway. She kept walking, her eyes trained on the set of steel doors that stood at the end. She stood at the end of the hallway, her eyes focused on those double doors. She knocked on the doors and silently waited for the muffled response.

"Come in"

She pushed open the door, which was a little unlike her 'character' but luckily no one noticed as she made her way to the single chair that was waiting for her. She was face to face with three other people, three other people who were high members of the Council.

 _The Elite Three_

She knew this was something more than just a reconditioning meeting.

* * *

Dakota was sitting outside, a cup of Earl Grey tea was nestling in her hands, a smug grin on her face as she took a small sip, enjoying the light citrus blend. A small chuckle was heard as she set her tea down, that grin of hers was growing.

"So, how's it like to be 10 years into faking your death?"

Dakota shrugged as she traced a finger around the rim of her glass cup, her eyes were glowing.

"Mhmm I don't know, but how's it like to stage being kidnapped?"

She shot back, hearing a soft scoff coming from the other person.

"Touche. But really, after you go off the radar for 5 years you suddenly call me out of nowhere. You normally don't call unless you have a plan, so tell me, what's the plan?"

Dakota slowly took another sip, her eyes were resting on the other woman sitting in front of her, the silver hair that was braided loosely, the aging devilish smile that crept on those lips, the tattoo of the Eye of Horus under her left eye. Dakota only shrugged.

"Not yet. I need some info."

The Egyptian woman only smirked, picking up her tea and stirring it.

"Now now, you know how I work."

She playfully responded, which only made Dakota grin.

"Oh please I know. I know exactly what I'm expected of."

The silver haired woman nodded as she took a drink of her tea, making eye contact with Dakota.

"Good, now what kind of information are you looking for?"

Dakota dug into her inner chest pocket, pulling out a familiar picture of a _very_ familiar blonde. She slid over the tabletop and to where the other woman sat, watching as she picked it up slowly.

"Ah, Angela Ziegler, what do you need to know?"

"Just what my old partner's been doing with, _her_ technology."

She glared at the blonde woman in the picture, causing the Egyptian woman to softly smirk.

"Oh my, haven't seen this side of you since the attack on Overwatch. What exactly happened between you and Zeigler?"

Dakota only smirked.

"You can ask her yourself. After all, I've been dead for ten years."

* * *

 **Hey, please tell me what you all think, sometimes I feel like I'm writing this for myself and I tend to lose motivation to write.. sorry if I sound needy but I kinda need something to cheer me up. Sorry if it's a little short. Anyways I'll try to finish up the next chap soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey how's it been? I'll keep this short and simple, thank you to all of those that had commented, that pretty much told me to get my butt in gear and keep writing. I tried to write a little more than I normally do for each chapter, but I could hardly tell. Anyways happy readings!**

Lena knew she had to go back into Dakota's room, some way and somehow she was going to get back in there. After she suddenly remembered the newspaper page she had stolen from Dakota's room, she spent the rest of the night reading and planning out how she would get into the native woman's room. Lena didn't know her very well, her background that is. She only spoke of her past very rarely, but it was barely anything Lena could piece together. It sounded perfectly normal, a past of studying technological advances in prosthetic limbs, she dedicated her life to her work, but she retired and started up a small cafe instead. But that was the major thing she could not for her life get her head wrapped around. A doctor who had dedicated quite a large chunk of her life to creating prosthetic and artificial limbs just suddenly retiring and started a cafe. That kinda explained her large surplus of money in the bank, but just thinking about it made her confused. The brunette scratched her head, lightly groaning before she slammed the old newspaper down.

 _Overwatch Medical Team Killed_

She knew there was a little more to the newspaper than just that, there was traces of highlighters marking up the faded page, pen scratches and the worn and torn edges that showed the old paper took some form of punishment for the words it carried.

 _Mercy_

 _Overwatch_

 _Disbanded?_

 _Death_

 _Only one alive_

 _Survivor_

And the list went on and on, certain words were marked with a small number next to it, some had a 2, some had a 10, and the numbers continued. It skipped certain numbers, there were only numbers consisting of even numbers, no odds were found on the page at all. Lena needed answers, and she was going to get them somehow. She waited until the next morning, seeing that Dakota had left early in the morning and was not expecting to return until late that night. It was the perfect opportunity for Lena to check in her room. Coincidence? Maybe. Who knows? All she knew was this was the perfect opportunity and she was not going to let it go to waste. She forgot what Dakota said she was leaving for, something about visiting an old friend and whatnot. Whatever it was Dakota wasn't going to be around for awhile, which is what Lena really cared about. And the next minute the older woman was gone, leaving Lena all alone. She silently waited 5 minutes before she went to check the Native woman's room. She opened the door, surprised to find it unlocked. She looked around, there was a heavy blanket hanging on the wall, it had this 'man in the maze' symbol Dakota had mentioned before. It was spotless, those stacks of newspapers were all gone, her desk was perfectly clean apart from a few bills and notes that had no useful information. Looking through bookshelf after bookshelf she found nothing, there was only books on her tribe or language books or books written in a foreign language that Lena had no idea to pronounce. She groaned in anger as she shoved the last book into it's little spot on the shelf, taking another look around the room. A neatly made bed, a desk with nothing but bills piled on it, a bookshelf full of books that were useless to her, a small bedside table with a small pistol in a black box, there was nothing useful for her in this room. She trotted out of the small bedroom, slamming the door in the process. She made her down the hallway before she stopped mid-way.

"Dakota's man cave!"

It hit her, the bulletin board full of red string and the information that were crowding that small board. She rushed to the door, swinging it open and finding it the same way she found it last time. She took a look at the board, it was a map of the United States, and there was a set of 5 different colors tacks on the map. There was a large amount of red tacks in the center of one particular state, and the rest of the colors were spread out across the paper, some were even in the water. None of it made any sense, but Lena stared at the large amount of red tacks in that one particular state.

" _Arizona."_

It came out as a small whisper, as if she was testing the strange name out. The colors had some sort of significance, but what? From a glance they looked like someone played darts with the tacks, but knowing Dakota there's gotta be more to this. Right in the center of _Arizona_ a large portions of the red tacks were found, all of them crowding one specific town. Actually taking another look it wasn't the town, it was the outside of the town, a place that didn't even exist on the map. Lena touched the board, lightly pressing her palm on the flat surface, only to find out that it slightly caved in. She tested it again, noticing the wood slightly bend inwards, then a soft knock to find a hollow echo soon follow. There was something behind the board! Hastily she took the board off of the wall, finding the wall was slightly caved in a few millimeters. Lena knocked on it, hearing a hollow echo before it slid open, revealing a small space with a few boxes, all of them labeled in a foreign language. She picked the closest one, sliding it out from it's little hiding spot and bring it to her chest. She unfolded the top, finding Winston's blueprints, Mercy's files, and a few other small items stashed away. Random parts, a lot of scrap metal and hastily jotted down notes regarding the creation and maintenance of the Chronal Accelerator. Lena snuck a look at the table that was full of makeshift parts that somewhat resembled the core, but all of those attempts were set aside, you could tell those were just 'practice' as Dakota would say. Those 'practice' attempts were pushed aside, some were even lying scattered on the floor. But there was one that sat proudly in the center, it was slightly pulsating a dark red color, it wasn't the bright blue color that she was so familiar with. It was hooked up to nearby power sources that was feeding it energy. She walked over where it sat on the table, her eyes were watching the dim pulsating color as she slowly reached for it. Her hands slowly cupped the piece, as if it was made purely out of glass. Those light brown eyes scanned the metal, seeing the difference between Dakota's work and Winston's. Winston may have created the Chronal Accelerator, but at times his work was bulky and built for a monthly maintenance. Sure it was good for constant checkups but Winston could never make it to handle the daily roughness Lena went through on a daily basis back then. It was constantly having issues or something went wrong or Lena hit the ground too hard. But Lena only needed to take a glance at Dakota's work and she could see the difference between the two. Although Winston created it to act as a harness so she wouldn't have to undergo any sort of surgery to stay in place, it was a bulky and irritating thing to wear everyday. Lena also felt free of the harness due to Dakota's emergency surgery and looking at the core, it was much more slimmer compared to what Winston had created. It looked like nothing the design Winston had created. It had it's own feel to it, it was much lighter than Winston's design, but it was missing something. Lena didn't know what was missing, but something was eating at her, almost screaming at her that there was a certain thing that was missing. After a while of just staring at the piece Lena finally set it back down, seeing it pulsate again. She peered back to the boxes that were sitting comfortably in the hidden compartment in the wall. After all that Dakota has done for her, she saved what was left of Lena, she got to her first out of everyone else in Overwatch, she believed in her, gave her a second chance at life to live on the sidelines and stay 'dead'. But was it worth it? Was Lena worth saving? After everything that had happened, was it worth it? Lena missed her friends, they were the closest thing to family she ever had. And they all thought she was dead, six feet under with no way of ever seeing her again. But the thing that hit her the most was the announcement. Dakota had recorded the announcement and it took Lena months to gather whatever courage she had left in her to watch it.

* * *

 _The streets were filled with pedestrians and civilians, all were packed closely together to have a look at what's left of Overwatch. Winston was the one at the podium, adjusting the mic and he cleared his throat before he spoke in a soft voice._

" _To the people of England, we bring you grave news. I will confirm that it was me, Winston, temporary leader of Overwatch that had recalled all previous existing members back into action."_

 _It didn't take long before there was yelling and things thrown at the stage, Winston had quickly projected his barrier to shelter his teammates from the oncoming items._

" _You were the cause of all of this!"_

" _Overwatch is illegal! How could you recall this?"_

" _What is our government doing to stop you?"_

" _You were shut down for a reason!"_

 _Dakota was among the crowd, just silent watching while recording. She took a glance around, seeing that it was the humans who were feeling that way while the Omnics were silent, all were sharing a silent look between each Omnic. The camera went back to the stage. Mercy was now standing at the podium._

" _Please listen to us! When we fought for you, we fought for peace, for war to end. We ended the Omnic crisis. But there is never an end for war, for violence, but we can only fight for peace and-"_

 _Winston had placed a hand on her shoulder, his yellow eyes were glossy and he shared a sorrow gaze with the German Doctor. She stepped back as he rose up and face the crowd full of hateful and anti-overwatch people. He stood up and placed both of his hands on the side of the podium, gazing intensely to the crowd._

" _We have come here to deliver a message to the citizens of England, the home of Tracer. Tracer has been declared dead, as of today. We wish for a moment of silence to honor England's finest pilot."_

 _Dakota only shuffled slightly, the camera was shaking a little but then chaos broke out. The picture went to black after that._

* * *

Lena finished packing everything back into the box, making sure they were back in the same position as she found it. She slid it back into the little compartment, her eyes were looking at the other small boxes in there, curiosity was eating at her from the inside to tear those boxes open and find out what little secrets were hiding in there. But she suppressed every urge to, Dakota did so much for her and this is how she repaid the Native woman? By going behind her back and sneaking through her stuff? Clearly she didn't want this stuff to be found, but if she really wanted it to be hidden she would have at least found a better hiding spot. Or used that fingerprint scanner so many people use now-a-days. It didn't take her too long to put everything back into place, she put the board back up and still was eying the tacks. They held some kind of meaning, but what exactly? No matter how long Lena could stare at the board and at all the tacks but she would still get nowhere. The door opened and the soft jingle of the bells interrupted Lena's train of thought as she heard a familiar voice.

"Oi, Oxford! Come down here for a quick sec."

Lena groaned and rolled her eyes as she left Dakota's "man cave" and headed downstairs.

"I told you it's Oxton!"

"Potato, Potatoe, whatever Oxford. But have you even taken a look at the calendar?"

Lena was trotting down the stairs as she only shook her head, seeing the older woman was placing a few bags down and she was practically bouncing in her steps.

"No.."

Lena muttered as she finally was close enough to see what was stashed in those bags.

"Ugh I swear Oxford you only check for your pay. But It's October, and you what that means, Halloween!"

She wanted to burst out in excitement but quickly cleared her throat and stood proudly.

"I wanted to decorate the place, make it seem a little more festive you know? Come on, give me a hand wont'a?"

Lena eyed the Native woman carefully, it wasn't like her to decorate anything for any seasons. Never has she once decorated the place in the two years Lena's been here, and normally any Holiday went by unnoticed by the Native.

"Uh, sure I guess. Not like I have anything better to do.."

She muttered the last part, grabbing one of the nearest bags and finding all kinds of Halloween decorations, there were skeletons in coffins, bats that had a string attached to the top of their head, fake eyeballs in a jar, and all kinds of stuff. Lena glanced back to where Dakota was, and she was already making up a new Halloween menu for the kids and for the adults. She was designing new dessert ideas and new design for her signature pastries and all kinds of stuff.

"Wow, you really go out don't you?"

Lena asked her who only shrugged.

"Yeah, I didn't do anything the past two years because I didn't want to draw attention to the cafe or to you while there was a lot of things going on. But you seem well enough to handle it now."

Dakota was beaming brightly in her little space, her ideas, she thrived off of these kinds of things. Lena only nodded as she sheepishly went back to the bag of decorations, only listening to what Dakota was starting to say.

"Besides, I haven't done anything like this in so long. When you're as old as I am, you enjoy these holidays because you see all the happy families or the young couples enjoying each other's company. It's all about spending time with those you care about you know?"

Lena noticed the small moment when her voice cracked, her eyes were staring intensely at her notes, her hands were almost reaching for something that wasn't there. Dakota cleared her throat.

"Oh yeah, I forgot a few old decorations that I could use from before. Let me find those real quick."

She said as she quickly shoved her hands in her pockets and rushed up the stairs and made her way into her "man cave" before Lena heard a soft sound of the door being locked. Lena could only scrunch up her eyebrows in 'what just happened' but she quickly dismissed the feeling, going back to taking out the decorations and laying them out.

* * *

Dakota had locked the door behind her, her hands were aching, she pulled them out of their resting place, her arms were trembling, ready to shake violently. Dakota rushed to the board, struggling to move it out of place. Her strength was faltering, but after another attempt to push it off it gave away and slid down the wall, the tacks were slowly coming out their spots on the board but Dakota just ignored it as she silently knocked on the wall behind it, her small compartment was open and she grabbed the box that was the farthest away from her, practically slamming it into her chest. Dakota slumped to her knees, opening the box and finding a set of perfectly clean and sterile needles, all of them were filled with a gel like fluid. Dakota rolled up her sleeve, a large set of large scars were seen on her wrist, they were overlapping each other with harsh lines. Dakota injected the needle in her forearm, slowly pumping the thick gel-like fluid into her body. She exhaled softly, closing her eyes as she finished pumping the last bit. The trembling feeling in her body slowed down, it became non-existent. She pulled the needle from her flesh, finding a small stack of alcohol pads in the box and opened one up and wiped her sore flesh, cleaning any remaining fluids that would have been left. Soon the boxes were packed away, no evidence was left that it was even out in the first place. Everything was put back in place, the small compartment was yet again hidden by the board, those tacks were put back in their original spot and the room was looking like nothing ever happened. Dakota unlocked the door and faked a walk of shame down the stairs.

"Looks like I couldn't find it."

* * *

 **Anyways thank you to all for reading, I hope you enjoy this as much as I have fun trying to type out this chap, but please let me know what you think and I'm off for Fall break! My last one of my high school year yay**

 **So I'll try to squeeze in another chapter before my break ends okay?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yeah so.. I'm sure you've all heard by now who became the President of the United States..**

* * *

Her heels clicked again the tile flooring, the sound echoed all around her as she made her way to her office. She looked down to her clipboard, adding another tally to the failed amount of attempts she tried to get the Egyptian woman to open up to her. So far she had a golden streak of 10. She tucked a few strands of her loosely platinum blonde hair behind her ear, then resting the pen there. She had a responsibility as a doctor to make sure everyone around her was in good care and was in good condition, and that also included their mental health. And Pharah, she's been kind of out of it. Not only was there conformation that her mother was kidnapped, she also lost her team and the Temple of her home land. But her being hard headed woman she is, it takes quite the punch to get her to open up. It's been a few days since she had last seen the Egyptian woman in the weight room, and ever since she accidentally called her by her actual name. It was a simple mistake, and she missed the days back when the young Egyptian woman roamed the halls of Overwatch with her mother, those brown eyes were full of excitement and they held a desire Angela had never seen before. But now after the years flew on by and the large rumor that the infamous Sniper Ana was murdered, the broke young Pharahs heart. Angela felt devastated, Ana was a mentor to her as a young woman, and when she saw young Fareeha again, the hardened and cold stare she gave her said it all. Those emotionless brown orbs that stared back at the German woman, that piercing glare that held nothing but hatred for the longest time. Angela wanted to express her sympathy for Fareeha, but she never did cry out for anyone after that. Even after her mother showed up years later with her eyepatch and graying hair, she changed. Fareeha was a different person after that, and there was nothing Angela could do about it.

She opened the door to her office and walked right in, the door closing behind her. She didn't bother to look when she threw her clipboard down on the table surface, not even when she heard the pen clatter on the floor. She rested her behind on her worn out desk chair, it may have seen better days in the past, but damn the old thing was cozy as hell! But for the time being, she only wanted to have her usual tea, sit in her office for a little bit and try to unwind before starting it all over. Oh but she wasn't craving her usual tea, she wanted something that she could never have again. What used to be her usual tea so long ago. Back when her best mate was around, back in the good ol' days of working in Zurich. Her best mate used to make her tea so perfectly, she had a specialty for making all kinds of drinks. She recalled when she first tasted her special tea, she was an expert of blending flavors so well, there was a a hint of lemon, but with a faint taste of mint, something that smoothed her calms instantly. Her lips curved into a soft smile, looking up to her best mate and exclaiming, "you should open your own cafe. Your drinks are delicious!". Shortly after a husky laugh followed before Angela felt her hand was on her shoulder, giving her a light shake. _"Only when I'm dead and gone"_ came her usual reply which made Angela roll her eyes. Ah those were the times, living a semi-peaceful life and working on breakthrough technology that would make extraordinary contributions to the medical world.

She missed those days at times, and today she had an incurable desire for that specially made tea, but all she could do was have a cup of decently made tea. Angela quick stood up and made her way out of her office before she rounded the corner and made her way to the cafeteria doors, but her pace slowed as she heard the Egyptian woman argue with none other than who was stationed here for the time being.

"Dude get a grip! Isn't she 40 anyways?"

"Yeah on a scale from one to ten!"

"Bro bro, listen to yourself. You're what? 34? There's a good 5 plus year difference."

"So what? There's a good 7 year age gap between you and green pants over there!"

Then a scoff was heard as metal was heard clattering, most likely trays were thrown to the ground and the sound of chairs screeching followed soon after.

"Listen Pharah, I'm trying to help you get over your little doctor crush but don't drag lucio into this!"

"We all know the real reason why you're with him, don't lie! It's only because Lena's gone!"

Shortly after a loud slap echoed around them, reaching Angela's ears and she knew that right then and there she had to stop them. But before she could react was storming out of the room, her eyes red and tears were running down her cheeks.

"Fuck you!"

She yelled out at Pharah before she walked away, leaving Pharah alone in the cafeteria.

"Shit!"

The Egyptian woman hissed under her breath, slumping down into the metal chair. She leaned forward, her hands were placed firmly on her head, fighting the urge to bust out in tears. She didn't mean for this to happen, and it wasn't everyday where she bothered to even talk to someone and instead she made the situation worse. Asking the now 21 year old Korean for help on her little crush, okay that's not even anywhere near the truth. Her MAJOR crush on the doctor was getting in the way of everything, and she only wanted to find a way to curb her feelings. She felt so bad at snapping the doctor when she accidentally called her by her actual name. She wanted to apologize for it but she couldn't just face the blonde woman, tell her she's sorry for yelling at her for calling her by her actual name. And good ol' Hana was really trying to help, but Fareeha wasn't taking her advice well. She couldn't handle the truth well, and as she knew it she still wanted to hear it. No matter how brutal or hurtful it was, she wanted to know the truth. Unlike her mother who would stay calm, think about the situation and find a way to cope or adress it. But Pharah? She could only lose her temper and take the situation head on without thinking. Even with her years of training and being in the service, it only shortened her patience.

"Excuse me, Pharah, are you alright?"

The angelic voice of the blonde doctor filled her ears, almost instantly calming her stress. But then she remembered the reason behind this whole mess.

"I'm fine doctor"

She pulled herself together as best as she could, standing up and facing the German woman. She kept an emotionless stare as the German doctor only nodded, quickly looking down.

"I saw Hana running out, and I overheard some of the conversation."

It was a small moment, but there was that small moment where you could see the horror flash in those dark eyes. She tightened her jaw, replacing that fear with anger.

"It's none of your business"

She stated, but before Angela could reply the Egyptian woman was already turning around and quickly making her way out of the room.

"But Fareeha-"

"I told you not to call me by that name!"

She yelled out, stopping at the entrance of the double doors, her back was facing the blonde woman. She clenched her fists, she was angry alright, but not only at Hana or Angela, but herself as well.

"I'm leaving"

Then she left, yet again leaving the poor Swiss doctor speechless.

She huffed, trying to regain her temper but mentally adding another tally to her clipboard that now counted eleven failed attempts. All she wanted to do was drink tea and unwind, but she was far from calming down anytime soon. But something caught her attention, it was faint, but it was a smell she could not resist. Her thoughts were soon fading away as she went in pursuit for the strange yet familiar smell. Tracing it out of the cafeteria and down the hall, around the corner and to her room. The smell was stronger now, and her thin and slender fingers turned the handle and pushed the door open, there she found a mug sitting on her desk. She closed her door, those sky blue eyes were locked on that mug, and the brown liquid that rested in it. She closed her eyes, taking a small yet hungry whiff of the faint aroma in the room.

"A hint of lemon and a soft smell of mint.."

She softly muttered, taking small steps towards her desk. She stopped only inches away from the mug, her eyes were starving for that taste. But why would there be a mug with this kind of specific tea? Just sitting out in the open, specifically in her room, on her desk of all places? It was definitely strange, it could have been a trap waiting for her to take the first sip. She was fighting her inner desires, the urge to drink the tea or spill it out. She picked up the mug gracefully, her numble fingers were drumming against the sides, the excitement she felt as she brought the mug close to her nose, closing her eyes as she took another whiff of the drink.

"Just as I remembered.."

She softy said to herself, a small grin was tugging at the corners of her lips, then slowly she brought the bland color mug to her soft yet kissable lips, and took a small sip. She softly hummed to herself as she took another drink, fighting the urge to devour the drink in gulps. It was even better than she remembered! Ah but wait, what was that other taste? It tasted a little fruity, something that setted off alarms in her mind. She took another drink, and soon sue knew what it was.

"Ketamine.."

She was dizzy, swaying slightly as her eyelids began to feel heavy. It didn't take long for the doctor to fall forward, the mug shattered upon contact with the floor, and before Angela passed out she saw a woman sitting on a chair before her, a Raven mask covering her face. The nanomachines in her body were fighting to rid the body of the drug, but then she felt her head was being moved to the side where her neck was now fully exposed.

"Can't have ya back to normal now."

They said in a rough voice, prepping a needle before slowly piercing her neck and injecting the strange fluid.

"Consider this as a uh, reunion"

She said as Angela passed out, then the masked woman brought up a walkie talkie.

"Requesting pickup, North of the watchtower. We have Mercy. I repeat, we have Mercy."

"Required approved, heading there in 5 minutes."

Came a gruff and hasty reply as she stuff the walkie talkie in her back pocket before grabbing the unconscious Mercy and threw her over her shoulder.

"Time for you to meet your old friends Angela"

* * *

 **Sorry for the really late update, let alone a short update but right now I'm not feeling the best with the Presidential election outcomes. But what angers me more is that 15,000 people choose to vote for Harambe. I get it, this whole election felt like a joke but now? It's reality and I really don't want to see how the next four years turn out.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, so it's been quite a while since I've published anything. I'm terribly sorry, so you can tell I was working on this before and it took me way too long to finish it. I'll try to get back into it, just life took me by surprise really.**

* * *

It was dark when Dakota came back, she looked exhausted and desperately wanted to seek her bed. She didn't bother to check on Lena, who seemed to be sound asleep. These nights of hers were soon to be the death of her, there was so much she had to do in so little time. But she couldn't rest just yet. Shrugging off her thick coat, she took a look at the deserted cafe, the Halloween decorations that hung so proudly on the walls, the ceiling, everywhere looked ominous in the dark. Those red eyes followed her as she walked past the cafe, her coat was resting in her left arm as she made her way up the stairs. She went into her 'man cave' and settled her coat down on the couch against the wall, then she went to the table beside it and started to make herself a fresh batch of coffee. She checked the time, " _1:49"_ she read aloud, sighing as she plopped a heavy mug down on the surface. Her eyes went to her table full of scraps and projects she had to work on. She pulled up a chair before the table, resting her behind on the wood surface. She gently lifted her current project, a small orb that resembled an eyeball. An artificial eye, but one she had made from scratch. The price to pay for her old friend, and as she would jokingly say, " _An eye for an eye"_ which she found ironic. But the same could be said for her. Dakota shook her head, driving her thoughts back to the project. Dakota reached for the pair of reading glasses that were nestled in a pile of scrap metal, then slid them on her nose, seeing the images much closer. Despite how much she knew, Dakota hated admitting to old age. Her body was slowly breaking down, she could tell, but she didn't want to admit it. Her ignorant pride was swelling, causing her to work faster and rush herself. But as she was typing up the programming to make the prosthetic to work as told, she felt her hands freeze up, immobile for a second. Her blood went cold, she panicked while trying to move her fingers just even slightly. But she stopped, took a slow breath before she felt movement in her hands again. This curse was going to be the end of her.

* * *

Lena sat atop the roof, a bottle of fine aged Brandy sat next to her. It was getting colder now, the nights were freezing and the day would be somewhat warm, not really though. She was huddled up in a thick jacket, her hood up and she peered down at the city. The lights were the only thing that illuminated the darkened city. No one was outside, hardly and cars drove by, it was only her and the chilled bottle of Brandy. She exhaled slowly, the cold wind making a breath of air around her. She huddled a little closer, pulling out a scarf and hastily wrapping the fabric around her neck. Her fingers twitched from the cold, but she made no motion to warm them as she grabbed the bottle of Brandy and brought the glass to her lips. Hungrily, she gulped the drink, not savoring the taste. She plucked the glass bottle from her lips, her tongue was licking up the small specks of what was left behind.

"Bloody hell it's cold"

She whined as she took another drink. There was a soft breeze that left goosebumps running up and down her small body. She shivered, trying to huddle up even more to keep warm but there was no way with her metal arm, always freezing and then getting stuck because of the cold. Everytime she would ask Dakota to make some changes to it, she always refused. For some reason Dakota found it unnecessary to make such changes. She already knew from the start she wasn't supposed to have survived. That whole incident, the surprise attack that devastated the whole world and Overwatch. The incident that declared Lena Oxton dead. Not even MIA, but declared her dead without thinking of any other solution to her disappearance. Dakota always told her thousands of times that it was a miracle. But what good use is a miracle when all they do is drink and go through the day drunk? She scoffed.

"Some miracle.."

She huffed out as she took another drink. She remembered the events following after the explosion, how her nimble body went flying towards the nearest wall, even with the protection of her fuzzy friend she still took quite the punch. She shuddered at the memory, before downing half the bottle. All she wanted to do was to forget the everything, the pain, the suffering, living with this guilt. No, not guilt. She just hated the choice everyone made for her. Did she want to be saved back then? Was it worth it? She peered down to her chest, where the soft hum of what was left of her chronal accelerator that was implanted into her body. She only saw a chain that kept her in this timeline. She was stuck living with this reality. The whole world thought she was dead, never to come back. But how many people are thought to be dead when they're still kicking but in the shadows? She thought of her commander, Jack. He was supposed to have died back in that explosion with Reyes, but he didn't. He lived and made a different name for himself. So many people who once were a part of overwatch in some way. She glanced back at her half drunken bottle.

"Everyone's making themselves into something great, living life how they please, but what is Lena doing? Drinking her problems away."

She muttered as she picked up the bottle. She smiled.

"Bloody good brandy though. Dakota sure knows how to get the good stuff."

She chugged down the rest, already drunk off her ass and just mumbling nonsense to herself now. She was so out of it, she didn't notice the pair of golden eyes that had been watching her for the past 30 min. Peering through her enhanced scope, the cross-hairs directly on the half-burnt face. She couldn't hear a word the drunk girl was saying, but something kept making her come back to King's row, specifically to her. Something about the way she looked, the way she walked, that smile on her face as she started to sing into the bottle, it was something she was drawn to. Her finger itched to pull the trigger, but she resisted her incurable infatuation to. She watched silently, noticing she was standing on the edge of the rooftop, her feet were firmly planted on the rim, she held the bottle over the edge, letting it go as it went tumbling down to meet the hard concrete below. She couldn't tear her eyes away, all of her trained senses were yelling at her, something inside triggered her to react. She didn't have any control as she felt her body move on it's own, a familiar yet strange voice was yelling at her.

" _SAVE HER!"_

That small drunk girl leaned a little too far over the edge, but she didn't try to save herself. She opened her arms wide as she started to fall, closing her eyes in that moment. Within seconds the owner of those golden eyes found herself running towards the falling girl, extending her arm and projecting her grappling hook on a building nearby. She rushed in and grabbed the falling girl with her free hand, swinging around and landing back on top of the rooftop. She dropped the girl, who landed face down on the roof. She didn't know what just happened, why she had saved someone who she didn't know from falling off a two story building. It's not like she would have died anyways. She looked down on the drunk girl, noticing that she was sitting up and was staring off into the distance.

"Do you know what it feels like to be forgotten?"

She asked her savior, who only looked at her with a blank face. She saw that drunken smile again.

"Or rather, to be dead?"

Those brown eyes of her held sorrow, even though she had a smile on her face, her eyes told a different story. She was interested for a small moment, a small moment before she looked away from the drunk girl.

"Why should I listen to the words of the dead?"

She coldly asked, not bothering to look in the direction of the drunkard. She heard a chuckle then a sigh.

"Awe rubbish! I'm out of my drink!"

She rolled her eyes, walking away from the drunk. Why did she even bother to save her?

" _Death isn't to claim her just yet."_

That voice irritated her yet again, causing her to 'tsk' and look back to the young girl.

" _Look at her, she's escaped death with those injuries."_

Her eyes narrowed, looking down at Lena as she walked towards her.

"Who are you?"

She asked her, only to see the drunk shrug.

"Me? I'm no one."

Lena told her, while looking off into the distance.

 _"I'm supposed to be dead after all._ "

* * *

When Lena woke up, Dakota was already downstairs setting up shop. Lena shuddered at the chill that crept its way into her bed. She pulled the covers closer to her body, trying to huddle for what small warmth she had. But after hearing a knock on the door she had to leave her warm bed.

"Oxford, out of bed. Shop opens up in 20, get ready."

Then the footsteps faded away as Lena grumbled and waddled her way to the shower. Her headache was going to be the death of her. Today was a slow day, barely any customers were coming in, it probably had something to do with the weather. It was snowing out and hardly anyone wanted to venture out in that cold. Sure there were kids running around throwing snowballs and trying to build snowmans, but even so no one came in. Dakota was nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee, she looked dead tired but even still she opened the cafe. Even though she could close it and live a comfortable life without working for the rest of her years. But she did anyways, sitting on her stool on the other side of the bar. And for Lena? She was groaning and laying facedown on the floor, mumbling about a 'bloody hangover' to herself. Dakota took a glance at her, softly smirking as she stood up, leaving her mug on the countertop before slowly kneeling down to the hungover girl. She leaned close, softly whispering in her good ear.

"Psst, how much did you drink last night?"

She only got a groan in reply before Dakota looked at her liquor cabinet, finding one of her prized bottles gone.

"Don't tell me you drank my fine aged Brandy?"

She whispered, and in return got an even more exaggerated groan. Dakota huffed before smiling. She reached into her chest pocket, pulling out a silver whistle.

"Groan one more time, come on I dare you."

She taunted, holding the whistle to her lips. Not surprising Lena groaned yet again, this time she even managed to squeeze in a few words.

"What you gonna d-"

Poor ol' Lena didn't get the chance to finish her question before a loud blow of a whistle was pounding into her hangover. She groaned before putting both hands over her ears, curling up and rolling to her other side. Which was a bad mistake. She gagged, quickly placing both hands over her mouth as she struggled to stand up. Dakota just fell back, laughing as she hugged her stomach and rolled side to side.

"Oh man Oxford you're priceless."

She gasped out, a smile was proudly shown on her usually scowling face. She looked at Lena, who finally found her footing and managed to run towards the employee restrooms. But the sound of heavy footsteps made her laughter die down slowly.

"I don't think it's a good idea to mess with her so early in the morning."

She sneered.

"How would you feel if some young one drank your imported Brandy that was aged in a charred oak barrel for over 40 years? I'd have to get something out of my money's worth."

He only nodded before heading back to his station, re-cleaning his set of utensils and his favorite pan.

"Oh, and Eden?"

He placed his pan down.

"Yea boss?"

"Why don't you take the day off, come in tomorrow. If I need any help I'll call you. But I doubt anyone will come in today."

He smiled.

"You sure?"

Dakota nodded before making her way to the kitchen.

"You're not the only chef here. I'm just too old to handle more than three orders at once. Go on now, before i change my mind and make you clean up Lena's mess."

She taunted, making the young man shake his head in response.

"See you tomorrow boss!"

He called out as he was making his way to the door. Dakota waved in response as he left, sighing as she went to the restrooms.

"Ey kid you alive?"

She asked as she opened the door, the sound of gagging and hurling was all that she got in reply. She walked a little further down the restroom to find the young one on her knees, hands gripping the edges of the toilet, her face buried into the porcelain bowl. Dakota sighed as she knelt beside the girl, softly hitting her back.

"Just let it out, don't let your head fall into the bowl!"

Dakota yelled out as she quickly managed to stop Lena from face-planting into the porcelain.

"Maybe I should just close up shop."

She muttered to herself as she rolled up some tissue paper in one hand and wiped Lena's mouth clean.

"Come on, up you go."

She ushered softly as Dakota lifted Lena up and helped her steady her feet.

"Come on, let's go upstairs to lay down for a little while okay?"

Lena could only nod as she leaned into Dakota, her body weak from puking. Dakota led her out of the stalls, out of the restrooms, up the stairs until finally they made it to Lena's room. She gently let the young girl down, guiding her to lay on her side and unknowingly guided her to lay in recovery position. The poor girl was fast asleep, but Dakota didn't want to just leave her without anything. So she quickly ran back downstairs, found one of the spare mop buckets, opened up a plastic bag and placed it inside before running back up the stairs and placing it beside the bed.

"I'm too old to be running up and down stairs."

She told herself as she walked down the stairs, trying not to gasp out as she struggled to regain her breath. The bell rang, and just before she could say anything to announce the cafe was closed, she noticed something strange about the two visitors. Clearly they didn't come together, but they arrived one after the other. One she recognized instantly, but the other seemed to have interested her. She forced a gentle smile.

"Hello ladies, please sit, let me get something started for you. What would you two like to drink?"

She asked as she made her way to the countertop, waiting for the two to sit. She almost wanted to roll her eyes at how there was one seat empty between them, but it was bad for reputation. She pulled out two menus, handing it to both of them.

"Please take your time, it doesn't look like the snow will lighten up anytime soon."

* * *

Lena was laying on her side, her head was resting on her left arm and her left leg was bent to keep her from rolling off the bed. Her nausea was slowly going away, but the searing headache she had was preventing her from falling asleep.

"dumb.. Dakot..a.."

She muttered under her breath as she forced her eyes shut, trying to take slow breaths. She groaned lightly as she shuffled lightly, her right hand was struggling to unbutton her collar and to undo her sloppily made bowtie. But before she was able to even get one done, she felt a cool pair of hands slowly make their way under her fumbling fingers and with a quick motion loosen her tie and unbutton the top two buttons on her shirt. Then those cool hands found their way to resting on her forehead, hearing a soft 'tsk tsk'.

"Oh mon cherie, it seems like last night was too much for you."

It was a soft whisper, almost as if it held another meaning behind those sharp words. But Lena didn't notice, she instinctively leaned into the cool touch of her unknown visitor, desperate for relief from her horrible fever. But it didn't last long, the lingering sensation of those cool hands was slowly etching their way into her skin. Lena let out a soft groan as those hands lifted themselves from her forehead, almost making her whimper. She could almost feel the smirk that found it's way on her visitor's lips.

"Adieu, cherie"

That phrase echoed around her for a small moment, trying to understand what just happened before Lena recognized that saying. She shot up from her resting position, her eyes opened and searching for the owner of those words. But she only saw Dakota sitting in a chair, her eyes were focused on the sketch pad she was currently drawing on.

"You're awake, you were out for the rest of the day."

She said calmly, looking up for a brief moment before closing her sketch pad.

"I closed up shop after our last two customers, they were nice girls, just trying to stay out of the cold and they came here. One of them said something interesting though, of how she never comes to this part of town anymore but today she had a feeling to come to this specific cafe. Seems she heard rumors. Didn't tell me what kind of rumors she heard, but something about a familiar looking waitress working here."

She stood up and tilted Lena's head to the side lightly, gently opening her collar and noticed a soft smear of purple lipstick on her collar bone. Lena swatted her hand away, readjusting her unbutton collar.

"What are you talking about?"

Lena huffed as she tried to get up but Dakota placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think we should close up shop for a while, go on a vacation. What do you think?"

Dakota suddenly changed the subject, staring down at poor Lena.

"A vacation? What are you blabbering about? A vacation at this time?"

Dakota chose to ignore her questions.

"Be sure to pack up tonight, we're leaving tomorrow morning."

Before Lena could ask anything Dakota left the room, closing the door behind her. A vacation? At this time? Leaving tomorrow morning? Nothing she said had made any sense! Something must have went down, Lena was thinking of that weird conversation Dakota had. Something about the two customers, and one talking about rumors. She didn't understand anything that just happened. She thought back to her collar, what Dakota was looking at. She rushed to the bathroom, checking her neck in the mirror. She saw the smears of purple on her collarbone, that dream she had, about the unknown stranger visiting her, it wasn't a dream was it?

* * *

 **I kinda rushed this, originally this wasn't the way I wanted to go with the story line but it was the only thing I could write through my horrible horrible writers block. So we'll see where this takes us and hopefully I can get another chapter out before the end of this month.**


	12. Chapter 12

**It it took a little longer than I had anticipated, but I got it done! I know, back when starting this story some of you wanted an awesome behind the scenes tracer fighting in the shadows and all that good stuff. But she needs her "call to action" and it took a little while to build up. Anyways you'll see what I'm leading to as her "call to action".**

* * *

The residents at the makeshift Overwatch headquarters were running around amuk, almost as if someone had set off a bomb to blow the whole place and there was no way out. Pharah herself felt responsible, that the reason something so drastic had happened was because of her distancing herself from the doctor. Winston on the other hand, he was torn at what to say and how to formally address the situation. Jack was also at a lost for words, which was unlike the old soldier. He kept a strong firm hold on the situation but even still, there was no plan and nothing was leading to any clues to who did this and why. The security footage showed nothing, only what the perpetrators wanted them to see. The small 15 second clip showed a drugged Angela being injected in the neck by a strange syringe, which caused the German woman to get knocked out completely. Not even her nanomachines that were made to nullify any kind of potential harm in her body. All it took to take the Doctor down was just one syringe. But what kind of technology was used to make something so strong that not even the nanomachines were unable to defend themselves? It was something beyond their capabilities at Overwatch. Well for now it is. But the next few seconds showed the intruder throwing the unconscious Angela on her shoulder before saying something inaudible into something that was out of sight. But before they left, the raven masked woman came walking up to the camera, smirking as she slapped a piece of paper on the camera that clearly stated one word. Jack gritted his teeth as he read the word aloud.

"Talon.."

Then the video cut off, replaying static. They've known for a long time that Talon was behind Angela's technology. The cutting edge technology that was made to heal wounds in seconds, reform and repair damaged tissue, mend a bone back into place, it was reknowned technology that everyone wanted their hands on. And of course Talon was among those who seeked for it. Morrison spat out a few curse words, his anger was getting the best of him. He sloppily drank out of the bland mug he currently held in his right hand, his eyes focused on the screen before him. He had to call out something, but what exactly could he say? The agents that were currently stationed here were no where near combat ready, almost half were decently trained to fight, and the others were dreamers of once wanting to be apart of Overwatch before it disbanded. Most of the poor souls here were in line to start training and since Overwatch still had them on file, they couldn't risk leaving so many left alone since the Recall. Jack made his way out to where the majority of the Overwatch agents were, making his way to the center of the room to make sure they were all watching him. He needed their undivided attention anyways. Currently, he was in no position to pull anything together, with Winston the one who initiated the recall and given his authority as a dead man, he had little left to say in this whole mess. But they welcomed him back, almost with open arms if you would want to say. He had an image to uphold anyways. Winston was typing down information as Jack cleared his throat, readying himself for the speech he had to give.

"Everyone, simply put, Angela has been taken by Talon. We have known for years that Talon seeked the technology Angela had created. The ability to heal broken bones in seconds, to cure cancer and to bring back the deceased. It is crucial that we get her back, if her technology falls into their hands, Talon will soon be unstoppable with their undying soldiers and army. "

He paused and looked at Winston, who started to bring up a few holographic images and he made his way to Morrison.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Overwatch is indeed considered illegal, under the PETRAS act any activity that is done under the name Overwatch is deemed illegal and will be punishable. Now, I understand there are some who are quite unsure of disobeying the law and 'rebelling' against the Nation, but hear this my fellow agents, the world only sees Overwatch as an organization that only causes war, chaos, that we are disrupting the peace. But without Overwatch, who would have ended the First Omnic crisis? Who dared to fight in the war for peace, for our Nation to continue living, to secure the future of your family and loved ones? Overwatch did."

He switched his pictures to the 15 second video and played it.

"Now, Talon has Angela in their hands, and it's up to us to get her back."

Winston pushed up his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, seeing the once concerned agents agree and some even started chanting. The only way left to unite a broken force is to find a common ground for them all to believe and fight for.

* * *

Angela found herself tied up, a sack over her face as she struggled to wiggle out of her restraints. She had no idea where she was, nor how long she's been here. Every now and then someone would open the door and her sack was removed and they held out a cup of water for her to drink. Of course she was still tied up and the first time she was offered water it didn't go well. The masked Talon agent had forcefully grabbed her by the face, his knee was placed firmly on her back as he shoved the cup to her lips. After that the cup changed to a bottle. She didn't dare to trust whatever they could have put in the water, she refused every time. But all of her thrashing and refusing soon made her exhausted. As much as she hated to admit it, she almost let herself drink the water the last guard brought in. But her knowledge of the unknown casted her back into her previous stance. Refuse the water. That was all she told herself. But the door opened, and she braced herself to refuse, to grit her teeth and force her mouth shut. Instead of a usual Talon agent, this time it was the woman in the raven mask, walking in and watching as the German woman sat still, unknowing of who was on the other side of the sack. Angela braced herself for when the sack would come off and she would meet those bright lights and wince at how bright it was. But that moment never came, she almost thought she could have been going crazy, hearing things that weren't there. It didn't take long before Angela slowly relaxed, leaning against the wall. The raven masked woman just watched for a little longer, her eyes were trained on the woman with the sack. She stayed perfectly still, any noise would throw the German doctor into attack mode, She almost wanted to grin and laugh. She's done this so many times, she could even say she perfected the art of breaking a person. Unlike Talon's usual torture of the body and mind, she believed in something a little more different. But her methods always worked much better, to fully understand how the mind works and how it affects the person. The raven masked woman perfected her 'art' as one would say. You can break every bone in their body, you can surgically modify their memory, you could train them with the pain of failure, but to her the best way is to leave them with themselves. She likes to call it White Torture. She had Talon specifically make this room for this specific reason. She herself had funded for this room, every cent came from her pocket. A room with 4 walls of insulated steel and a foot-thick concrete surrounding the outside. On the inside seated 4 walls of 3.3-foot-thick fiberglass acoustic wedges, this room she spent perfecting has a 99.99 percent sound absorbent and just to put it in simple terms, soundproof. All of those years she had spent studying the human mind and how it functions in such conditions is truly an art to be seen. She waited another ten seconds before exhaling, causing the German woman to tense up. The raven masked woman smiled.

"Relax Angela, I'm not here to hurt you."

She said cooly, her eyes watching every movement

"Who are you?"

Angela asked, slightly shuffling in her little position. The raven masked woman only smirked. She didn't answer after that. She sat down, trying to cushion every movement she made. She wanted her to believe that she was alone, that soon all she'll have left is to start speaking to herself, to lose herself in her own thoughts. She loved the White Torture, it wasn't everyday where she got to use this room. Talon might like the idea of mentally breaking someone but for some reason they only allowed special cases for White Torture. But she leaned forward, plucking off the sack and causing the blonde to wince out.

"Such a shame a woman of your expertise has fallen to such a low, low, _low_ position eh Angela?"

Angela gritted her teeth.

"What would you know?"

She spat out, glaring at the woman behind the mask. But she was caught off guard when she found the woman laughing, her laughter echoing all around her.

"Oh dear Angela, there's so _much_ I know that you _don't_."

She cupped the blonde woman's face, looking into those sky blue eyes.

"But where's the fun in letting you know everything?"

She let go of the woman's face, this time standing up and turned her back on her.

"You know what we want Angela."

She faced her again, this time her gaze burned into those blue eyes.

"It's simple, really. Just give Talon what they want and you'll be returned safely. Simple, easy, and no blood has to be shed."

Angela gritted her teeth.

"And what is it that Talon wants?"

The raven masked woman laughed before kicking Angela hard in the stomach.

"The Valkyrie staff. The work, the blueprints, the technology to cure wounds in seconds. Cancer cells disintegrate as they appear, bones are mended back together. That technology is what Talon desires. And what Talon wants is what they'll get."

She watched as the blonde wiggled on the floor, she curled up on her side and her hands tightly held close to her body. The other woman turned away and headed for the door.

 _"You were foolish to refuse my offer Angela."_

Then she left the room, and nothing but silence surrounded Angela, the silence that seemed never end. She forced herself to sit up, leaning against the wall, waiting for her nanomachines to kick in and start repairing any damaged cells, Her pain, she would never give it to them. Everything she worked for, the time she had spent into the Valkyrie staff, her planning, the years she had spent investing, none of it was going to be handed over to an organization like Talon. She'd never let them get their hands on _her_ technology.

* * *

Lena winced, closing her eyes and covering them with her hands as she stepped out of the small taxi, taking a brief look around the area. Everything was so bright, so hot, and incredibly dry. She went and grabbed her old aviators and quickly slid them on, somewhat shielding some of the suns rays from completely having her eyes go blind. Dakota on the other hand seemed at ease, taking in all the sun, the heat, and endured the harmful rays in her eyes. She said she wanted to go on a vacation, but never before had Lena ever see Dakota look so happy before. She usually looked stressed, tired, or just grumpy at times. Lena went and helped Dakota get their bags out of the trunk, and Lena stared at the house before them. An 11 hour flight, and then an hour of driving in a cramped car all for this run down looking house? It looked as if no one lived here for years! The yard was dried out, some small patches of grass grew here and there, lots of cactuses were in the area, so Lena mentally reminded herself to not fall over or trip anytime soon. Dakota caught up with Lena, after paying the taxi driver of course, and chuckled a little.

"Looks beaten down right?"

Lena only nodded. Dakota just shrugged before fishing out her keys and unlocking the door, inhaling and exhaling as she walked through the door.

"Ah, smells like freedom."

Lena rolled her eyes at the comment, putting her bags down on the old couch, causing dust to fling itself in the air. She coughed as she swatted at the air, covering her mouth.

"Yeah forgot to mention, we gotta clean up a little. Been a long while since I've been here, so dust has collected."

She told Lena as she made her way out from the living room and down the hall and into the bedroom. Lena just grabbed her bag, followed Dakota who told her to sleep in the other room on the other side of the hall. After a small 5 min isuse of having a jammed door, Lena finally was able to relax and lay down on a not so dusty bed. Out of all of the places that they could have went, out of all of those places, the mountains, the beach, even the forest was denied. Out of out the countless of choices to go, Dakota had decided to go to this dry hot desert. There was no snow but there was just this dry cold wind, the small chances of rain, and just the sun. Lena only knew that Dakota had wanted to come to this dry heat for a reason, maybe not really as a vacation but there's gotta be a reason why this place specifically. Lena just groaned lightly and turned on her side. New place means new people, and new people means no one knows Lena. Dakota knocked on the door, slowly opening it.

"Hope you settled in, I want to go and get something to eat, you coming?"

Lena eyed her carefully.

"Eat what exactly?"

Dakota grinned.

"Either you go or you stay and find something edible here. I'm paying."

Lena eyed her, carefully watching the expression on her face.

"Alright fine as long as you're paying then."

Lena couldn't understand why Dakota found comfort in such a sloppy looking place, she said it was even more run down from before but even if the world thought Lena was dead, she still had some standards.

"Don't be such a party pooper Oxford. It won't kill you."

Dakota joked as she led Lena to a table, ushing her to sit. Lena sat down in the wooden chairs, fiddling with the salt shaker. Dakota grinned softly.

"I grew up here you know. It's been roughly 20 years since I've last been back home."

She softly said, looking around the area. Lena heard the sorrow in her husky voice, the way she looked at some of the people, waving at a specific person.

"Dakota!"

She seemed a little at ease here, the way she got up and hugged the strange man who had called out to her. He seemed a little too young to be interested in someone as old as Dakota, maybe in his early 30s or so. He was extremely happy to see the older woman, but she had a small conversation before sending him off and returning to Lena.

"He's an old friend of mine, from before."

She told Lena as she nodded, still twirling the salt shaker in her fingers. It's not that Lena was one to have a fine quality dining and all, but sitting outside in the desert in the middle of winter was certainly something she could not see herself doing. It was more strange with how Dakota seemed to be more 'at ease' here, but it made sense. It's the place where the Native Woman lived and grew up at.

"Why'd you leave?"

Lena asked, causing the older woman to softly smile.

"There was nothing here for me, nothing to live off of, no one to live with, and I needed to go and 'explore the world' as you young ones like to say."

Dakota smirked.

"But I made my living in Great Britain after I left, I guess you could say I got home sick."

She turned to face Lena.

"How did you grow up?"

Lena was taken back at this sudden question, Dakota was never such an open person to ask such questions, she tend to ask when it was brought up. Lena shifted in her seat a little.

"I uh.. I grew up in the heart of London. A true english blood."

Dakota nodded slowly, listening to Lena's little backstory.

"How about your family?"

Lena just sunk a little in her chair.

"My family? Well, I've always been a single child, but my parents were.. not really there when i was growing up."

Lena hated talking about her past, especially her 'parents'. Dakota only nodded once before she stretched.

"Parent issues eh?"

Lena just looked away.

"I know how that is, or well was."

She said as her phone went off and she got up and stood a little away from the table as she answered the phone. Lena just shrugged and continued to look around, seeing the dusty and barren landscape. It must have been tough living here, always so dry and dusty. Lena wasn't found of this place, it was totally different compared to Great Britain and where she grew up. There were at least sidewalks out in the streets, here there's just dirt and old roads. Good ol' America for you. Lena rolled her eyes from her comment, she never personally understood why Americans were so.. 'Patriotic' when there were places as run down as this slop. Even Morrison held some kind of respect for his country, but once he started getting more involved in Overwatch, it died out. Lena flicked some salt off of her table, slightly disgusted with the small mess.

"Ah sorry looks like we'll have to take it to go, a friend of mine wants to meet up."

Dakota said as she came walking back, sliding her phone in her back pocket. Lena never felt any happier.

Well she was until she realized that she was now left at the dusty home while Dakota left, her 'dinner' was in a brown paper bag that was chilling in the fridge. Lena didn't bother with it, she didn't dare to try it, she wanted her usual Fish n' chips. Her stomach grumbled but she chose to ignore it. Lena was sitting on the couch, a mask over her face. Roughly 10 years of dust really piles up after time, and Lena didn't bother to risk the chance of coughing or choking on ten years worth of dust on an old couch. Luckily she had packed a mask just in case. But something was bothering her, in the back of her mind. None of this ' _vacation_ ' ordeal made any kind of sense for her. Nothing. She couldn't wrap her head around why Dakota had suddenly threw this vacation last minute, and why here of all places. Sure she said she was 'home sick' but it was the way she presented it, she said it's been 10 years, 10 whole years of not being back on American soil. Lena forced herself off of the couch. She had to look around for more clues of some sort. Her thoughts raced back to the map in Dakota's "man cave". All of those specific tacks, the colors, the exact placement on the map, there was something here that Dakota must have came back for. She said she was 'looking for herself' but there's gotta be something more to it. She found herself standing before Dakota's room, her eyes focused on the doorknob. Slowly Lena opened the door, the room was almost spotless, not a single speck of dust seemed to have find it's way into this room. Lena stepped into the room, making sure the door didn't close behind her. There was a single bed, two large shelves filled with numerous items, papers, metals, scrap, and random objects. But none of it had any dust. There was nothing on it, and the desk beside the bed had an old outdated computer sitting there, it was on and running. It looked old and worn out, but it was still in good condition. Lena went to the computer, turning on the monitor. She found numerous tabs open, a lot of them were documents that were unfinished, but one of them stood out the most. Lena read the title aloud to herself.

"Report #93, The Death of Lena Oxton"

Her face paled instantly, her eyes were focused on those 4 words, disbelief was written all over her face. She scrolled down, finding the date was two years ago, but she had no idea who had wrote it or who it was sent from. At the bottom there was a series of numbers, maybe coordinates or some kind of old school computer code. Lena scrambled to find a pen and a slip of paper that wasn't used, she hastily checked in the drawers, finding only screws and books so worn out that they were taped together. She searched in the bedside drawers, only find sets of VHSes, which made Lena stop and literally think about it. She picked one up, finding the title was ripped off, then she searched through the others in the drawers and every single one of them was without a title. All of them were ripped, the title missing and beaten. Lena quickly put them back, finally finding paper in a bucket Dakota had sitting by the door. Lena just chose not to question it, all she knew is that she had something to do and that was to write down all of those numbers. She found a pen in the computer desk drawer, and hastily jotted down the numbers. Once she finished jotting down the numbers she stuffed the paper in her front pocket. Lena took a step back, her eyes were focused on the screen before her, she didn't even notice the door creaking open a little.

"Lena Oxton's death was confirmed at 2:56 AM, cause of death: Internal blood loss and failure of transfusion of chronal accelerator to body. Emergency procedures were taken at 3:13 AM, all of the following were used; the remains of the chronal accelerator, prototype #32, remains of failed project # 4, and biotic implants. Attempting to perform emergency procedure # 12.."

Lena was reading part of the document quietly to herself, her eyes were trained on every single word, disbelief was written all over her face. She took another step back, but unknown to her a very familiar face was standing behind her, quietly pulling out a small needle out of their breast pocket. Just before Lena took one more step back, a hand was quickly wrapped around her neck, pulling her close and forcefully pushing her head to the side before they skillfully injected the needle in Lena's neck.

"I didn't need you to look at that _Oxton_. Now look at what you made me do."

The husky voice whispered into Lena's ear, slipping her arm away from her hold on Lena's neck and watching as Lena fell on her knees first, then slowly tipping forward.

"Horse tranquilizers really do the job, especially for cases like this."

She waked around and knelt before Lena, staring into those drowsy eyes, Lena gritted her teeth, fighting the effects of the tranquilizer.

"Da..kot..a.."

Dakota grimmaced as she pulled out a cigarette from her pocket, then brought it up to her lips. She snapped her fingers and a small spark came from them, lighting the cigarette in the process. She took in a small inhale before exhaling the smoke right into Lena's face.

"Listen Oxton, I'll make this simple for you to understand."

She exhaled another cloud of smoke.

"I told you to never go into my room, the only rule I ever gave you."

Her eyes narrowed.

"But you broke my only rule, more than once. But not only did you just break my rule, you also took items from my room. But this right here."

She jerked her head in the direction of the computer.

"This right here just crossed the line. I let you overstep your boundaries, I've seen how you look at me, how you've slowly begun to to suspect me of something, unable to trust me. I _saved_ you Lena. I brought you back. But it seems that isn't enough to convince you."

Dakota took in a large breath. She exhaled slowly.

"Well whatever, you'd find out eventually. It's time to meet the family."

Dakota burned out her cigarette in her other hand, frowning.

"Time for you to sleep Oxton. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Lena looked up at the Native Woman, she felt betrayed, lost, and confused.

 _ **It's time to meet the family.**_

She had no idea what Dakota even meant from that, but the tranquilizer was working faster than she had anticipated. Before, her metabolism was barely able to fight it off, due to the chronal accelerator. But after Dakota 'fixed' her, her metabolism changed drastically. She couldn't fight off the drowsiness but it was impossible for her. She found herself drifting off to sleep, staring at the woman she had once looked up to.

* * *

 **Please don't forget to leave a review on what you thought about the chap! but as I mentioned earlier, this is leading up to her "call to action", and I'm quite excited for this part. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**_Okay, I have a bad thing with updating on time and frequently I know. So I wrote a little more than I usually do, okay maybe a little more than that but still, enjoy reading!_**

* * *

Dakota was casually staring out her large window, those cold and dark eyes were scanning the people below, how no one seemed to notice the strange person that was mingling among them. She slowly walked to the small table that was beside the bed, her eyes glancing at the metal bucket full of ice and the Jack Daniels that was beside it. She picked up one of the glasses and scoped up a few ice cubes, watching as they clanked against the glass. She set the glass down as she reached for the bottle and opened it, slowly pouring the dark liquid in her glass. Once satisfied with the amount, she held the glass in her left hand, making her way back to the window. She quickly spotted the strange person, noticing that some people were slowly noticing how, 'strange' they were being. Dakota slowly swished the liquid around in the glass, taking a glance at her watch.

 _Five…_

Her eyes narrowed at the crowd of people that slowly started to accumulate.

 _Four…_

The strange person hunched forward, holding his stomach.

 _Three…_

The crowd began to grow larger as people saw him fall forward.

 _Two…_

Dakota frowned as he began to go into a seizure, hearing the crowd cry out for medical help.

 _One._

She took a drink as the explosion went off, killing hundreds of people in the area. She downed the drink before casting the cup away, hearing it shatter on the flooring. Her job here was done. Not only was it a bomb, it set off like a chemical explosion, emitting a smoke that was carrying a virus that would affect the human population. Their genes, their bloodstream, their whole internal organs, everything that was created by cells and tissue structure. Dakota wasn't found of her job, but she did it for a reason. Sure, their methods were extreme and often harmful, but it was getting them somewhere they needed to go. Dakota looked around the room, making sure she left nothing behind, that she was prepared to leave without a problem. She never touched the bed, her hands were gloved and the only thing that held some sort of DNA behind was the glass. The shattered glass that laid on the flooring of the room. She spat on the glass before leaving the stuffy room. Her work was done, and that was all she really cared about.

Dakota hated these jobs, the "breaking point" that would lead them all where humanity really belonged. She didn't share the same passion as the higher ups did, but she had similar ideals with them. She did almost everything they asked for, whether that was cutting up someone and implanting a chem bomb inside their organs, creating viruses and diseases that would tear apart immune systems and weaken white blood cells, or killing in cold blood. She did almost everything except for one thing. And her one failure from long ago haunts her even now. Dakota made her way back to her hideout, making sure no one was following her before she entered place. It looked like a small house, a simple home in a valley. But it was much more than just a 'simple home'. So much more. She made her way to her room, closing the door and locking it behind her. Dakota went the bookcase in the room, and she pressed a button on the side of the casing, making the whole shelf slowly sink into the wall and shifted to the left, revealing an elevator.

Once she made her way down, she exhaled and started to mutter nonsense to herself. Her job may have been finished but she still had work left to do. And that started with the yelling down the hall.

"Damn you Dakota where the hell am I?"

She groaned softly before making her way to the source of the yelling.

"I told you before Oxton, same place but just 300 ft. below!"

She yelled as she rounded the corner and found Lena standing behind a slate of glass, seeing all the fingerprints and smears on the interior. She groaned before putting a hand to her forehead.

"Dakota what the hell did you do to me?"

Lena yelled, slamming her fist into the glass.

"Don't even try Oxford, that's 20cm thick bulletproof glass. Quit wasting your strength."

She muttered before sitting in one of the chairs in the area.

"What the hell do you want with me?"

Dakota shrugged.

"Honestly Oxford, nothing. I just saved you on a whim and now you're becoming more trouble than you're worth."

She said as she crossed her legs. Lena clenched her jaw, anger was clearly found in those once so energetic brown eyes. In truth, Dakota didn't have a plan for Lena at first, but as things slowly started to get more demanding on her end, she figured she could at one time or another introduce Lena to what she was doing. But recently, things haven't been going well with Lena.

"What does that mean?"

Lena asked, watching every move the older woman made.

"It means that I'm deciding if I should keep you around or not."

Dakota told her coldly, finally standing up and walking up to the glass. Lena only glared at the taller woman, but there was a small flicker of fear in her eyes. Dakota had a choice to make, if she should even bother trying to finish what she started or just scrap it. Clearly all the surgeries she performed on Lena were just becoming a waste. All Lena did was just drink and mourn her "death" while letting herself go to waste. What she needed was a strong, unbreakable, and determined former Overwatch member. Not this washed-up agent. Dakota still had a few last-minute resources she could potentially use, but her best chance was with this pathetic excuse of an agent.

"Listen Oxford, I'm gonna give you one last chance. You do anything rash and that will be the end of you. Understand?"

Dakota asked, seeing the former agent slowly shake her head.

"I'm not doing anything until you give me answers Dakota."

Lena told the Native woman, knowing that she was at an advantage. If Dakota really needed her, she would do what Lena wanted to get her help. Dakota nodded.

"Understandable, I mean I did drug you, lock you up, and leave you unattended for hours without any word."

Dakota mumbled to herself, making her way back to the chair in the room. She looked at Lena.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

Lena raised her head up high.

"Everything."

Dakota muttered to herself as she sighed.

"Of course, you want to know _everything_. You better pull up a chair for this."

She instructed Lena who pulled up the wooden folding chair close to the glass. There was no way Lena was going to agree to something without knowing the details. At least some part of her brain functioned still. Dakota regretted not taking that bottle of Jack Daniels from the hotel room.

* * *

She stormed her way down the hall, past the guards, ignoring everyone around her. She could feel it, the intense hate and anger that was bubbling up inside her core. The way her mind ticked, her hand twitched from annoyance. She hunched over slightly, trying to shove her hands in her coat pockets and to keep them occupied with the random junk she stashed just for emergencies. Her left hand found a rubber ball that was way past it's prime. All old and rugged, no longer smooth but rough and cracked. Her right hand found a bumpy pencil, the one she used to chew on for immediate relief. Feeling the indents of where she used to bite down, she felt the crevice of where her molar tooth once dug into the wood, the rough and uneven shape and the soft edges. She made her way down to where her 'special' room was, opening the door and quickly walking in. Everyone knew not to ever go into that room, no matter what the situation was. The only way they could get her out was only for emergencies, and of course writing it down on a paper and sliding it under the door. But once she was in her special room, she had to be in there. Talon knew full well who they hired and exactly everything they needed to know. And with her they knew exactly how important she was. The work she had done, the in depth studies she did, everything with her scientific breakthroughs that were unnoticed and discarded by those only wanting "for the good of humanity". Sure she may have been a special case permitted by Talon to work for them, but they know exactly how capable she is and exactly what makes her 'tick' after all. She slammed the door shut after her, slowly falling to her knees. Her hands took out everything those greedy hands of hers found, the ball, the pencil, , gum, paper, a small pistol, the dog tags. Once she heard the clank of metal her eyes were staring right at those war-stained pieces of metal. She slowly leaned forward, her hands reached out and held her up, those eyes still staring deeply into the old metal tags. She closed her eyes, leaning to her right and falling on her back.

 _She couldn't remember why she needed to find her mother so much. She knew exactly what dear 'mother' was doing while Papa was away at work. Even if 'mother' was so far away she knew. The rushed calls, the turtlenecks, the tense look in her eyes as she talked to Papa, she knew it all. It wasn't like she was upset with 'mother' or angry with her. She just didn't know how to feel about it. But Papa was often working day and night, always leaving in the morning as she got ready to school, giving her a warm smile and kiss on the forehead before he left to work. Papa didn't make much money as 'mother' did. Even when 'mother' sent money Papa left it saving in a trust fund. He rarely used a cent from the money 'mother' sent. Papa was a man that liked to do everything himself, but when Papa was severely injured from a construction accident, 'mother' came back and took care of him. She gave him new arms that lifted more than he could before. But Papa was mad. Mad at 'mother' for that, so very mad. But 'mother' tried to help him. 'Mother' saved Papa. Papa was supposed to be happy, but why wasn't Papa happy? Why did Papa hurt 'mother'? "Mother" was crying, asking what 'mother' did wrong but Papa continued to hurt her. Papa was no longer Papa after that. 'Mother' never came back home after that, and Papa started bringing women home. They never stayed twice. Papa was always upset, Papa didn't kiss her on the forehead anymore. Papa started using the money 'mother' had once sent. Papa rarely smiled. Papa was no longer Papa. Papa no longer worked. Papa no longer made money. Papa used the trust fund money. Papa lied to 'mother' countless of times. Papa told 'mother' it was for her. For college. For school. For whatever she needed at the time. But she never saw any of that money. Papa never told her where it went. Sometimes Papa left and returned a few days later. Years went by, and she was growing up. No longer a small child but a young independent woman. Papa only became a sad and pitiful old man. 'Mother' no longer sent any money, she found out what Papa used the money for. Papa stayed sitting in his old rocking chair, a dim cigar was often in his mouth. She often walked past without saying a word, The house she lived in was nothing but a memory to her now. It was a shell of what it once was. Her dreams were left in that house. But one day it all changed. As she was getting ready to leave, she saw 'Mother' waiting for her outside. Was she happy to see 'mother'? Was she upset with 'mother'? No, she didn't feel anything when she saw 'mother'. But 'mother' was the same woman she remembered her as. Tall, confident when she walked, sophisticated, beautiful. 'Mother' had this warm, safe, and 'motherly' aura around her, the way she smiled and walked over to her, casting a warm glow she had once forgotten. 'Mother' was her influence, 'mother' lighted up those old dreams that were once casted into the dark. She wanted to be just like 'mother', a strong and confident woman, smart and beautiful at the same time. It probably all started there. She wanted to know exactly how a woman who was physically beaten to almost a pulp was able to stay so strong even after all those years. The way her mind ticked, how it kept her confidence so strong, so daring. The way 'mother' stood strong, and the way Papa only sank lower. She wanted to understand everything about the willpower of one's brain, their strength, their energy, just their everything. She believed in the willpower of one's mind determines their life. She began to study after that, studying everything the human race knew of the brain, psychology, sociology, everything. Any subject that included the human brain and their mentality she studied. 'Mother' supported her, the woman she looked up to was right behind her, guiding her and helping her to what she wanted to do. But those times came to an end so quickly she didn't have time to adjust. The incident, the fire, the screaming children, the tears that never seemed to stop, the hoarse screaming and yelling, she felt everything inside her break. The pounding on the door, her fists that started to bleed from the impact. 'Mother' was there by her side, giving her the comfort she never had as a child growing up. But as she was recovering, 'mother' gave her a kiss on the forehead, just like Papa once did. 'Mother' then left the next day, leaving a letter explaining she had to go back. But she just got 'Mother' back, she was here, smiling and giving her the comfort she craved. She screamed for 'Mother' to come back, she cried for her, yelled for her, went in search for her. Papa was soon forgotten, he was nothing but a pile of bones sitting in a chair day and night, his eyes were soon clouded and he stayed there, smoking those cigars of his until his lungs had finally given out. But she wasn't there at his funeral. 'Mother' wasn't there either. She needed 'mother' like no other, she needed the woman who ignited the desire to learn and to yearn something she desperately needed. Something was tugging at her heart, it was something she never would find out. It left her feeling empty, incomplete, lonely. The last time she heard about 'mother' was the incident that took her life away. She wasn't the first to know, if anything she was the last of 'immediate' family to know. She was her only daughter! She was the closest one in the area! She was living in Switzerland for a few months! None of it made sense! She was supposed to have been the first to know! So, why was she last? Even then it was only a letter with one paragraph! Only four sentences. Only four sentences, each were less than ten words. It read:_

 ** _Dear next of kin,_**

 ** _We apologize for the sudden news. XXXXX, XXXXX was announced dead at XX:XX. We give our condolences for your loss._**

 ** _Sincerely,_**

 ** _XXXXX_**

 _She couldn't hold in the intense hatred and pain she felt, the searing pain that ripped through her head. She crumbled up that paper and ripped it to shreds. There was no way 'mother' could have been taken from her again. 'Mother' was someone with a strong mindset, someone who would have never kicked the bucket so soon, not when she had so much work left to accomplish. There was no way! She needed to find out on her own, 'mother' couldn't have just.. Died. There's no explanation to it! Nothing about how it happened, who caused it, if they even had a body or anything! Nothing was told, just the time of death… and the pain she carried in her heart began to swell, She couldn't have… not when she had so much to do… not when Papa cursed her out with his final breaths… not after finally coming back and actually being the 'mother' she needed._

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a paper sliding under the door, softly sliding right next to her. She frowned as she forced herself to a sitting up position, picking up the paper roughly. It seemed she was needed. She peered at the digital clock by the door, a full eight hours had passed since she entered the room. A harsh exhale escaped from her lips as she started to gather the items she had casted away in the room, Reluctantly she made her way out of the small confinement room, making her way to the cafeteria to grab a quick pick-me-up snack. Since she tends to spend countless of hours without food, the cafeteria has quickly adjusted to have some sort of 'filling' food for her to work a few more hours and then eat a proper meal. She entered the cafeteria, which was almost completely empty except for one person sitting alone at the counter-top bar. At this time of hour, only the last staff would be in the cafeteria, and sometimes rarely the lost soul or two either eating or drinking their time away. But this one person that had their back to her was hunched forward, a bland looking mug was sitting beside them, and a book was on their left. She picked up her 'filling' slob for the night. A plate of boiled potatoes with a few cuts of red meat, and some assorted vegetables. She had roughly 20 minutes to eat before she was expected in where ever they needed her. She picked up a small cup with boiled gravy, placing it on her tray as she walked to a nearby table, taking a set of silverware with her as she walked by. She needed to be in and out, quickly scarf down what they called food and be out. She sluggishly picked at the plate of assorted foods, mashing the potatoes with her fork. She flipped the cut pieces of meat over, pouring some gravy on top. To say that she wasn't hungry would be a lie, but to say she wanted to 'indulge' herself in this sort of food was something she found revolting. But stabbing one of the smaller potatoes and dipping it into the cup of gravy before taking a bite out of it. She set the fork down as she shook her head in disgust. She forced herself to swallow, reaching for her fork and practically stuffing the food in her mouth and just inhaling it. Theoretically speaking that is. She threw the fork down on her tray, picking it up and placing it on the 'dirty' pile of trays. She hated that taste, no matter what she ate, the taste was always the same. She walked out, finding a guard was waiting for her outside the entrance.

"Dr. Martinez, I was asked to send these files to you personally, I was told you would be interested in the newest prisoner."

He handed her a small stack of papers that were stapled together, and as he walked away she started to skim through the pages, a devilish smile was spreading across her face.

"So this is where you've been hiding my dear sweet woman. Oh how I longed to see you again."

She was smiling to herself, making her way to the cell blocks.

* * *

Angela hated the silence that engulfed her, she tried everything to make a sound appear, but none of it was worth the effort. No matter what she had tried, nothing seemed to make a sound. The only sound she heard on a regular basis was the door opening and closing. Other than that nothing didn't dare to attempt to talk to a guard, she didn't even dare to try to talk to herself. They changed out her clothes and she was wearing strict white clothing, a white shirt and white shorts. She soon began to hate the color white, it was white everywhere around her, the bed, the sheets, the pillow, the flooring and the ceiling, it was all white. She was often left alone in the room, no one came in, only for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Three meals a day, she learned what the small whiteboard and the expo marker were for. She wasn't allowed to speak, not to anyone, not to herself, not even to the guards or to even ask for something. She had to write everything out, write it down on the whiteboard and then slid it under the door. The only time she was out of the horrid place was for a 5 min restroom break, which was a quick trip down the hall and almost the same identical room except it was smaller and had a toilet and sink. But right now she was told to stay put, that someone would be visiting her soon. Who? She was never told, only to be in the room until she was called. It wasn't like Talon was beating her or subjecting her to intense physical torture to get answers, but it was rather more mental torture the more the Swiss woman thought about it. She had to hold on to her sanity, or what was left of it. She may have been a doctor but what she had studied was nothing compared to this. She was inexperienced with such methods, and to understand how badly mental torture could affect a person. The door slowly creaked open, the sudden noise made the German woman flinch out.

"Angela Ziegler, you have a _visitor._ "

She looked up, finding a guard waiting for her. The way that guard had said "visitor", she felt a chill run down her spine. For a split second it sounded just like _her_. The huskiness in that voice, the soft accent hidden in her words, it set off alarms in her mind. She snapped up, her eyes trained on the guard. He came forward and slapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists.

"You know the drill Angela. Keep your mouth shut until you're asked to speak."

She huffed before she was being blindfolded then pushed out the room, shoved down the hall and kept walking until she was stopped.

"We're here. Sit down they're waiting for you."

He opened the door and shoved Angela in, shutting the door closed and locking it behind her. Angela struggled as she took a step forward, still blindfolded and handcuffed. She heard a soft chuckle before she felt a pair of hands on her shoulder, leading her down to a metal chair. Then another soft click as her handcuffs became slightly heavier.

"Please, stay seated. It's not like you can go anywhere else. Now, we're here just to.. Ask some questions. Now, who are you?"

Angela just scoffed.

"Doctor Angela Ziegler, agent of Overwatch."

She heard a laugh.

"No, no, seriously. Who are you?"

Angela frowned, confused by the question.

"What?"

She heard a laugh, followed by the sound of a chair softly squeaking.

"Who is Angela Ziegler?"

She chuckled at this question.

"What kind of question is this?"

She heard the soft tapping of a pencil.

"Alright we'll leave this question blank. Next is, where was Angela Ziegler born?"

"What kind of questions are these?"

Angela asked, causing the person before her to 'tsk tsk tsk'.

"These questions are far too easy for someone like you of course. Let's get to the fun part."

The sound of clatter was heard as she felt the blindfold come off, her eyes blinded by the bright lights in the room. She was squinting her eyes.

"Now, how many people did Angela kill to get where she is today?"

Her eyes widened before she winced.

"None!"

She yelled out, her vision slowly adjusting to the lighting. Her eyesight was slowly making out the soft blobs of color in her vision, hearing a soft husky laugh.

" _Angela, Angela, don't keep lying to me."_

She froze, her eyesight was just fooling her, whatever she was seeing was not real. It was just the effect that room had on her for the time being.

"No.. you're not real. You're not here."

Again she heard that laugh.

" _Oh no no. Look at me Angela. I'm still here, still breathing, something that you had wished against for."_

The blonde woman gritted her teeth, anger was flashing in her light blue eyes. She hated the smug look on their face, the way they walked slowly towards her, but she noticed when they traced a finger down on the table top, she smiled smugly.

"You're not her. She isn't coming back anytime soon."

She grimmaced at the impostor.

" _Shall we add her to the list of those you've killed then? The list of innocent lives that you've taken for your sick joy."_

"I never killed anyone!"

" _Don't lie to this face, not after what you've done Angela. She trusted you, believed in you,_ loved you."

Angela swallowed a lump in her throat, she wasn't expecting anything like this to happen. She felt goosebumps run all over her body, making her shiver. She didn't trust this person, the way their voice mimicked the voice that haunts her at night, those piercing eyes that haunted her every time she closed her eyes, the sleek and soft pronounced facial structures that highlighted her nationality, something was wrong here. The impostor chuckled before sitting back in the metal chair, picking up the clipboard yet again.

"Then how about I propose an offer Angela?"

She picked up the pencil and started tapping the eraser against the metal clip, that piercing gaze ripping through any protection Angela had tried to assure herself with.

"What kind of offer?"

She only needed to buy time, to make it seem like she was interested and just hope that Morrison was leading a rescue team and barging his way through.

"I'll formally introduce myself, I think you'll remember exactly who I am, and what I want."

That husky voice turned dark, it was rough, menacing, threatening. Those piercing eyes stared right through the poor Swiss woman, making her shift slightly in her cold chair.

"I don't know if you remember me as well as I would like you to, but clearly you remember my _mother_ so well. I am Doctor Nizoni Martinez, an old friend of yours."

Angela felt her blood turn cold, the threatening glare coming from Nizoni was demanding, and now she felt she was at no position to even make it out of this situation without losing something. The doctor slowly got out of her seat, slowly making her way to the handcuffed Angela.

"The reports I was given as a child when my mother was station at Zurich were extremely detailed, what information she could spare to her loving family back home. I was told she was working for the greater good for us all, to ensure a safe future for us."

She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags.

"This was the only thing we were able to recover after that attack. Nothing else, not a body, not even a formal apology from the company. I went there to the site, and I looked myself, dug up whatever little information I could find. That's how I had found this."

She gestured to the war-stained set of dog tags. Then faced Angela with scorching hate in those cold eyes.

"Now, tell me exactly what happened and I'll let you go."

Angela scoffed.

"You work with Talon, couldn't you just read the files?"

Angela asked, hoping that would distract her.

"What you think I was born yesterday? Of course I have! I read all of the casualties list and I found nothing but an interesting report on the oh so loving doctor that created the breakthrough technology!"

Nizoni exclaimed, pulling out a small pistol from her inside pocket. She aimed the nose at the doctor's knee, cocking the hammer.

"I've read all about it, the oh so amazing nano-machines that were told to heal wounds in seconds, the Valkyrie staff, everything! You know, I've always wondered how long it would take for such a wound to heal so effortlessly, the way the body rebuilds tissue and cells to reform their missing parts."

She pressed the gun harder to the Swiss women's knee, her finger itching to pull the trigger. She pulled out a stopwatch from her other pocket, eyeing the movements of Angela very carefully. Angela noticed the crazed look in those eyes, the taunting voice, the way her right eye twitched every other minute. Signs of an unstable person, a _mentally_ unstable person. She didn't have time to react when the bullet was sent into her kneecap.

* * *

 **I have no excuse to my long absence, but the ball's rolling now and we're getting somewhere again! Don't forget to R &R, it reminds me that people actually like this story and to keep writing and updating. Anyways I'll see you all in the next update, whenever that gets done..**


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